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When All Else Defaults: Government as the Ultimate Debtor

Comparative Politics
Political Economy
Regulation
Social Policy
Welfare State
Austerity
Capitalism
Waltraud Schelkle
The London School of Economics & Political Science
Waltraud Schelkle
The London School of Economics & Political Science

Abstract

In his monumental study of When all else fails: government as the ultimate risk manager, David Moss interpreted the history of public policy in the United States as the building of pervasive social safety nets for failing markets. Can we find a similar evolution in recent times of increasing household leveraging: have European welfare states come to act as ultimate financial risk managers of and for households? A recent example that the article documents were systemic bank bailouts that also protected savers. But in doing so, European welfare states have become the overstretched debtors of last resort. The massive deleveraging of private balance sheets in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis since 2008 has left a large legacy of public debt. Innovations in public debt management, such as perpetual and growth-indexed government bonds, can be understood as applying the entrenched wisdom of welfare state institutions to public finance.