Abstract
In post-war Germany for a long period of time public debt was not a subject of economic policy discussion. Government debt related to war-financing had been almost completely cancelled out by the currency reform of 1948, and the new constitution required a balanced budget. Debt financing was only allowed for investment purposes. Accordingly public debt grew at very moderate rates and was mainly issued by local governments. In order to stimulate private capital formation the federal budget and the state budgets for many years were in a surplus position.
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Notes
Tatom, John A., ‘A Perspective on the Federal Deficit Problem’, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, vol. 66, no. 6 (1984), pp. 5–17.
Willms, Manfred & Ingo Karsten, ‘Government Policies towards Inflation and Unemployment: Experience in Germany’, in Argy, Victor & John Neville (eds), Inflation and Unemployment, Theory, Experience and Policy Making (London, 1985).
Keynes, John Maynard, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (London 1936), chapter 18.
Keynes, John Maynard, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money op. cit., chapter 9.
Gandenberger, Otto, ‘Theorie der öffentlichen Verschuldung’, in: Neumark, Fritz (ed.), Handbuch der Finanzwissenschaft (Tübingen, 1981), p. 39.
Willms, Manfred, ‘Volkswirtschaftliche Wirkungen einer zunehmenden Staatsverschuldung’, in Wirtschaftsdienst, vol. 58 (1978), pp. 439–45.
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© 1988 Fondation Internationale des Sciences Humaines
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Willms, M. (1988). Public Debt and Public Debt Policy in Germany. In: Cavanna, H. (eds) Public Sector Deficits in OECD Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08952-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08952-9_4
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