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The debt-inflation cycle and the global financial crisis

Author

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  • Boettke, Peter
  • Coyne, Christopher

Abstract

Writing over 230 years ago, Adam Smith noted the 'juggling trick' whereby governments hide the extent of their public debt through 'pretend payments.' As the fiscal crises around the world illustrate, this juggling trick has run its course. This paper explores the relevance of Smith’s juggling trick in the context of dominant fiscal and monetary policies. It is argued that government spending intended to maintain stability, avoid deflation, and stimulate the economy leads to significant increases in the public debt. This public debt is sustainable for a period of time and can be serviced through 'pretend payments' such as subsequent borrowing or the printing of money. However, at some point borrowing is no longer a feasible option as the state's creditworthiness erodes. The only recourse is the monetarization of the debt which is also unsustainable due to the threat of hyperinflation.

Suggested Citation

  • Boettke, Peter & Coyne, Christopher, 2011. "The debt-inflation cycle and the global financial crisis," MPRA Paper 32091, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:32091
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/32091/1/MPRA_paper_32091.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter J Boettke & Daniel J. Smith & Nicholas A. Snow, 2011. "Been There Done That: The Political Economy of Déjà Vu," Chapters, in: Steven Kates (ed.), The Global Financial Crisis, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Boettke, Peter, 2012. "A behavioral approach to the political and economic inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 753-756.
    3. John B. Taylor, 2009. "Getting Off Track - How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis," Books, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, number 3, July.
    4. Jerry H Tempelman, 2009. "Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 44(3), pages 182-183, July.
    5. Raghuram G. Rajan, 2010. "Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9111.
    6. Adam Smith & Richard Wagner & Bruce Yandle, 2011. "A theory of entangled political economy, with application to TARP and NRA," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 45-66, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Alexander William Salter, 2016. "Political Property Rights and Governance Outcomes: A Theory of the Corporate Polity," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 31(Winter 20), pages 1-20.
    2. Peter J. Boettke & Liya Palagashvili, 2016. "The Comparative Political Economy of a Crisis," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: Studies in Austrian Macroeconomics, volume 20, pages 235-263, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Edward Stringham, 2014. "It’s not me, it’s you: the functioning of Wall Street during the 2008 economic downturn," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 269-288, December.
    4. Aykut Ekinci, 2016. "Rethinking Credit Risk under the Malinvestment Concept: The Case of Germany, Spain and Italy," European Financial and Accounting Journal, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(1), pages 39-63.
    5. Jamie Morgan & Ioana Negru, 2012. "The Austrian perspective on the global financial crisis: a critique," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 17(2), pages 27-55, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Deflation; Fiscal Imbalance; Inflation; Public Debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • P44 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - National Income, Product, and Expenditure; Money; Inflation

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