Sovereign Debt: A Guide for Economists and Practitioners

by S. Ali Abbas (Editor), Alex Pienkowski (Editor), Kenneth Rogoff (Editor)

The last time global sovereign debt reached the level seen today was at the end of the Second World War, and this shaped a generation of economic policymaking. International institutions were transformed, country policies were often draconian and distortive, and many crises ensued. By the early 1970s, when debt fell back to pre-war levels, the world was radically different. It is likely that changes of a similar magnitude -for better and for worse - will play out over coming decades. Sovereign Debt: A Guide for Economists and Practitioners is an attempt to build some structure around the issues of sovereign debt to help guide economists, practitioners and policymakers through this complicated, but not intractable, subject.

Sovereign Debt brings together some of the world's leading researchers and specialists in sovereign debt to cover a range of sub-disciplines within this vast topic. It explores debt management with debt sustainability; debt reduction policies with crisis prevention policies; and the history with the conjuncture. It is a foundation text for all those interested in sovereign debt, with a particular focus real world examples and issues.

Genres: Economics, Finance

464 pages, Hardcover

Published December 10, 2019

Reviews

[Richard Marney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for financiers, policy makers, and intermediate level economics students. More advanced students would likely not be challenged.

The survey is well structured, covering many relevant topics, including: (i) a historical review of public debt; (ii) characteristics of public debt; (iii) motivations to borrow; (iv) sustainability considerations; and (v) debt sustainability and restructurings.

The authors are a "who's who" of the trade.

The book is available for download on the IMF site.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for understanding sovereign debt issues: a mixture of introduction to the topic with more in depth analysis for experienced analysts.

[Lorenzo Carrieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well structured book on sov debt and all the topics that surround it, from tax smoothing for debt borrowing to sovereign debt litigations, a must read