Public Debt as a Form of Public Finance: Overcoming a Category Mistake and Its Vices

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.

Author: Richard E. Wagner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 05/30/2019
Pages: 75
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.23lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.15d
ISBN: 9781108735896