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The 2020–21 recession has been devastating for the global economy. It has been ninety years since the global economy last suffered through a recession of this magnitude (in the Great Depression). Nonetheless, it seems that the social effects of the current recession have not yet come about. The reason for this disparity between cold macroeconomic data and popular sentiment can be found in the enormous public spending by practically all of the countries in the world.1
Article by Daniel Fernández Méndez from Mises.
This article argues that exorbitant increases in public debt, such as those seen in 2020, are not free. It examines the potential economic effects of accumulating vast quantities of public debt.
The First Problem: Less Economic Growth
The countries with the greatest amount of public debt saw per capita income grow the least, as seen in chart 1.
Chart 1: GDP Growth per Capita
Source: Kumar and Woo. Created with Datawrapper
The economic mechanism that explains this statistical relationship is relatively simple. An excessive public debt causes the so-called expulsion effect, in which credit is redirected from the private sector to the public sector. The growth of public debt deprives the private sector of loanable funds, reducing the generation of wealth. (It is the private sector that generates economic activity. The most the public sector can aspire to do is to establish a framework that favors private endeavors.)
The Second Problem: Disincentivizing Investment and Reducing Productivity
This second problem is an extension of the first. One of the best indicators of an economy’s future growth is its investment rate. When investment increases, so too does productivity, which is accompanied by economic growth.
Thus, if countries with less debt grow faster, it is very possible that these countries will see more investment and greater productivity growth. Chart 2 shows how countries with less debt see greater investment (notably, this detracts from the common argument that public debt can be used to increase investment).2
Chart 2: Investment/GDP
As a result of the greater investment in places with little debt, production per worker accelerates. Chart 3 shows this relationship.
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Chart 3: Growth of Production per Worker
The Third Problem: Deteriorating Solvency
The most obvious problem of all is that an individual or a company that continually spends more than their income ends up going bankrupt and having to make dramatic adjustments to their level of expenditure. A state, as an economic agent, has the exact same problem. If its expenditures regularly exceed its income, it will go bankrupt.3
There is a point at which accumulated public debt becomes unpayable. It is very difficult to estimate this point, which is why recommendations tend to be vague.4 The International Monetary Fund, for example, places the critical point at the moment when a country accumulates a public debt equal to 2.2 times its tax income. The requirement for the eurozone countries is to maintain public debt below 60 percent of GDP and an annual public deficit below 3 percent of GDP. However, none of the eurozone countries comply.
Although there is no unequivocal level of debt beyond which the risk of default arises, studying historical episodes of sovereign bankruptcy can provide an idea of where this limit may be.
Chart 4 analyzes eighty-seven historical episodes of bankruptcy (over 175 years).5 The chart shows that African countries have gone bankrupt once their debt was greater than 2.89 times their tax revenue. Asian countries have gone bankrupt once their debt exceeded 4.83 times their tax revenue.6 At the beginning of 2021, global debt was around 3.12 times global public revenue (3.3 times in developed countries and 2.9 times in developing countries). Accordingly, it appears we are very near the maximum acceptable debt level. If the public sector continues to spend more than it earns, debt nonpayment will become a theme in the coming years.
Chart 4: Public Debt/Tax Revenue at the Moment of Default
The Fourth Problem: The Relationship between Inflation and Debt Default
The link between inflation and the accumulation of public debt (and sovereign bankruptcy) is relatively recent. It was not present prior to the twentieth century. The reason can be found in the evolution of the monetary system from a metallic system to a system based exclusively on credit and on large central banks that make monetary policy.
As can be seen in chart 5, countries that find themselves defaulting on public debt experience a much higher inflation rate (more than triple) than countries that honor their commitments. In the twentieth century, as a result of the change in the monetary system, it became possible to pay off public debt through inflation.7
Conclusion
Economics is plagued by nonlinearities that, in many cases, obscure cause-and-effect relationships. The economic effect of an increase in public debt is one of the areas in which the lack of linear relationships is most evident. The substantial increase in public debt over the years, and its apparent lack of effect on other macroeconomic variables, has caused an entire profession (economists), and the politicians who follow its advice, to fall into complacency. Nonlinearity in economics means that cause-and-effect relationships can remain dormant for a long time, only to manifest themselves with unusual force later on.
I would like to conclude this article on a pessimistic note and an optimistic note. The pessimistic note (better addressed first since it is always best to end on a high note) is that the disastrous economic effects discussed in this article will become evident at a future time that is very difficult to pinpoint. We cannot escape the principles of economics any more than we can escape the principles of physics. The optimistic note is that the nonlinearities give us time to correct imbalances and alleviate their harms. Accordingly, if you are reading this article in time, demand that your government practice fiscal discipline (or punish it if it does not do so), do not vote for candidates who advocate fiscally irresponsible policies, and protect yourself from inflation by avoiding keeping large sums of money or very liquid assets.8
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Legal notice: the analysis contained in this article is the exclusive work of its author, the assertions made are not necessarily shared nor are they the official position of the Francisco Marroquín University.
[This article was originally published by Trends at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín.]
- 1.Additionally, social dynamics tend to be slightly delayed compared with economic dynamics for a variety of reasons (for example, financial cushions, the existence of family networks, aid from the state).
- 2.Most economists are convinced that public spending is a kind of investment that generates economic benefits. I could not disagree more strongly. Investment, in order to be classified as such, must have an economic goal. At all times, for spending to qualify as investment, the expected discounted inflows must be greater than the expected discounted outflows. For this to happen, it is essential to have market prices. But the majority of public projects estimate shadow prices that have nothing to do with market prices and that tend to rely on unrealistic assumptions in order to make the projects appear viable. A public project whose criteria are political rather than economic is, simply put, an expenditure, not an investment.
- 3.The big difference between when the public sector goes bankrupt versus when a private agent does is that the latter can be forced to sell its assets to pay its debts. A state, in contrast, can be subjected to a similar process by other states but, unfortunately, not by its citizens. (Accordingly, a payment guarantee is less meaningful when the debtor is a state.)
- 4.Sometimes these recommendations take the form of tax regulations that are (supposedly) mandatory for the tax authority.
- 5.The original analysis was by Reinhart and Rogoff (2009).
- 6.The limits indicated here are averages of the historical episodes of sovereign debt defaults.
- 7.In general, inflation was much higher in the twentieth century than it was in the nineteenth century. Considering that the main goal of the central banks is to maintain stable prices, there is little question that this fact is proof that central banks are incapable of reaching their goal.
- 8.There are many more ways to protect oneself against the fiscal irresponsibility of governments and those indicated here are not an exhaustive list.
‘The Purge’ by Big Tech targets conservatives, including us
Just when we thought the Covid-19 lockdowns were ending and our ability to stay afloat was improving, censorship reared its ugly head.
For the last few months, NOQ Report, Conservative Playbook, and the American Conservative Movement have appealed to our readers for assistance in staying afloat through Covid-19 lockdowns. The downturn in the economy has limited our ability to generate proper ad revenue just as our traffic was skyrocketing. We had our first sustained stretch of three months with over a million visitors in November, December, and January, but February saw a dip.
It wasn’t just the shortened month. We expected that. We also expected the continuation of dropping traffic from “woke” Big Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but it has actually been much worse than anticipated. Our Twitter account was banned. Both of our YouTube accounts were banned. Facebook “fact-checks” everything we post. Spotify canceled us. Medium canceled us. Apple canceled us. Why? Because we believe in the truth prevailing, and that means we will continue to discuss “taboo” topics.
The 2020 presidential election was stolen. You can’t say that on Big Tech platforms without risking cancellation, but we’d rather get cancelled for telling the truth rather than staying around to repeat mainstream media’s lies. They have been covering it up since before the election and they’ve convinced the vast majority of conservative news outlets that they will be harmed if they continue to discuss voter fraud. We refuse to back down. The truth is the truth.
The lies associated with Covid-19 are only slightly more prevalent than the suppression of valid scientific information that runs counter to the prescribed narrative. We should be allowed to ask questions about the vaccines, for example, as there is ample evidence for concern. One does not have to be an “anti-vaxxer” in order to want answers about vaccines that are still considered experimental and that have a track record in a short period of time of having side-effects, including death. One of our stories about the Johnson & Johnson “vaccine” causing blood clots was “fact-checked” and removed one day before the government hit the brakes on it. These questions and news items are not allowed on Big Tech which is just another reason we are getting canceled.
There are more topics that they refuse to allow. In turn, we refuse to stop discussing them. This is why we desperately need your help. The best way NOQ, CP, and ACM readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We are pacing to be short by about $3700 per month in order to maintain operations.
The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. We had 5,657,724 sessions on our website from November, 2020, through February, 2021. Our intention is to elevate that to higher levels this year by focusing on a strategy that relies on free speech rather than being beholden to progressive Big Tech companies.
During that four-month stretch, Twitter and Facebook accounted for about 20% of our traffic. We are actively working on operating as if that traffic is zero, replacing it with platforms that operate more freely such as Gab, Parler, and others. While we were never as dependent on Big Tech as most conservative sites, we’d like to be completely free from them. That doesn’t mean we will block them, but we refuse to be beholden to companies that absolutely despise us simply because of our political ideology.
We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.
As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.
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They’re Trying to Shut Us Down
Over the last several months, I’ve lost count of how many times the powers-that-be have tried to shut us down. They’ve sent hackers at us, forcing us to take extreme measures on web security. They sent attorneys after us, but thankfully we’re not easily intimidated by baseless accusations or threats. They’ve even gone so far as to make physical threats. Those can actually be a bit worrisome but Remington has me covered.
For us to continue to deliver the truth that Americans need to read and hear, we ask you, our amazing audience, for financial assistance. We just launched a GiveSendGo page to help us pay the bills. It’s brand new so don’t be discouraged by the lack of donations there. It’s a funny reality that the fewer the donations that have been made, the less likely people are willing to donate to it. One would think this is counterintuitive, but sometimes people are skeptical because they think that perhaps there’s a reason others haven’t been donating. In our situation, we’re just getting started so please don’t be shy if you have the means to help.
Thank you and God bless!
JD Rucker