- Editorial:
- CAMBRIDGE
- Materia:
- No ficción en inglés
- ISBN:
- 978-1-108-73589-6
PUBLIC DEBT AS A FORM OF PUBLIC FINANCE
RICHARD E. WAGNER,
Economists commit a category mistake when they treat democratic governments as indebted. Monarchs can be indebted, as can individuals. In contrast, democracies can't truly be indebted. They are financial intermediaries that form a bridge between what are often willing borrowers and forced lenders. The language of public debt is an ideological language that promotes politically expressed desires and is not a scientific language that clarifies the practice of public finance. Economists have gone astray by assuming that a government is just another person whose impulses toward prudent action will restrict recourse to public debt and induce rational political action.