Financial and Sovereign Debt Crises: Some Lessons Learned and Those Forgotten

Abstract

Even after one of the most severe multi-year crises on record in the advanced economies, the received wisdom in policy circles clings to the notion that high-income countries are completely different from their emerging market counterparts. The current phase of the official policy approach is predicated on the assumption that debt sustainability can be achieved through a mix of austerity, forbearance and growth. The claim is that advanced countries do not need to resort to the standard toolkit of emerging markets, including debt restructurings and conversions, higher inflation, capital controls and other forms of financial repression. As we document, this claim is at odds with the historical track record of most advanced economies, where debt restructuring or conversions, financial Repression, and a tolerance for higher inflation, or a combination of these were an integral part of the resolution of significant past debt overhangs.

Keywords: Financial crisis, Sovereign debt, Debt conversion, Debt restructuring, External debt, Public debt, Inflation, Economic growth, Developed countries, Emerging markets, Financial crises, sovereign debt crises, deleveraging, credit cycles, financial repression, domestic debt, government debt, debt overhang, debt reduction, sovereign default, debt forgiveness, debt overhangs, private debt, currency debt, debt crisis, sovereign defaults, private sector debt, public debt management, net debt, domestic currency, reserve bank, debt burdens, total external debt, debt default, debt relief, debt statistics, debt data, foreign debt, debt defaults, debt obligations, market debt, debt stocks, debt public,

JEL Classification: E60, E44, F3, F34, G10, H60, N10