The explosion of European public debts

German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the second and final day of the EU summit in Brussels, October 16, 2020. Olivier Hoslet / Pool via REUTERS

By: Jean-Pierre Boris Follow

2 min

The Covid-19 pandemic has crippled the global economy.

In Europe, to cope with the health and economic disaster, to support households and businesses, to compensate for taxes that go less into the treasury coffers, states drew on their own resources when they had them, but above all, they widened their fiscal deficits and increased their indebtedness to hitherto unimaginable levels.

Publicity

So, is a country with 120% or even 160% of its GDP ruined?

Will the standard of living of its inhabitants be affected?

How will European countries, collectively or in isolation, manage this new debt resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic?

Will it be reimbursed?

Who will pay ?

A thousand and one questions asked to the three guests of the show.

Anne Laure-Kiechel

worked in famous banking institutions, Lehmann Brothers, Rothschild then last year created her own structure,

Global Sovereign Advisory.

 With her team, she advises around twenty states in the Balkans, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America in defining their economic strategies and managing their debts.

Debt and Sovereignty

 is the title of a chapter of which she is the author in the book entitled

Debt, magic potion or mortal poison?

 published by Télémaque editions.

The second guest of this program, Gilles Dufrénot, also wrote a chapter, in the same book, entitled

How to think about public debt policies in times of disaster.

Gilles Dufrénot

is a professor at the Aix Marseille School of Economics and associate researcher at CEPII.

Jonathan Marie

is a lecturer at Sorbonne Paris Nord University, member of the

Économistes Atterrés

collective

.

 He is one of the authors of the book

The public debt, precise citizen economy,

 which is due to appear in Éditions du Seuil on January 14th.

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