Aspects of Nationalisation - Debt and Free Markets

The national debt is the accmulated outstanding borrowing of central and local government together with public corporations. One of the immediate effects of the bail outs for financial institutions is that the total national debt has climbed by tens of billions of pounds. If the full extent of the extra finance made available to support the partly-nationalised banks is taken up, then UK national debt might rise to 100% in the near future, an almost unprecedented position to be in during peace time. The last time that government sector debt exceeded fifty per cent of our GDP was in the late 1970s when the Callaghan Labour government was forced into a bout of emergency borrowing from the International Monetary Fund.

This Independent article looks at the position and how the debt will be financed.

This Financial Times editorial considers the role that government intervention can play in saving free market institutions.

In today’s Guardian, Ashley Seager considers how the crisis has affected Britain’s public finances

Martin Wolf on Global Shocks [10 Feb 2012]
Trucks are the new way of measuring debt [1 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development - Some Indicators [30 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: France loses her AAA credit rating [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Economics of Fiscal Deficit Reduction [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Bond Yields Reach Record Lows [11 Jan 2012]
2011 in Review - The US Economy [27 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
The Eurozone Crisis Explained (again!) [22 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Should the EU introduce a Tobin Tax? [14 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Eurozone crisis - a selection of resources [12 Nov 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
Skidelsky in Madrid [12 Oct 2011]
Fat tax: Denmark [5 Oct 2011]
Greek debt decision tree [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Greek Economy at Default’s Door [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Dangers of High Inflation [11 Jul 2011]
AQA ECON4 Context [20 Jun 2011]
A2 Macro: Consumer Spending [30 May 2011]
Macro Revision: Putting Things in Context [25 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Deflation [24 May 2011]
EU Economics: Comparing the UK with Europe [14 May 2011]
AS Macro: Extended House Price Deflation? [5 May 2011]
A2 Macro: Chinese investment in the EU [3 May 2011]
AS and A2 Macro Revision: Keynesian Economics [28 Apr 2011]
A2 Macro: Twin Deficits [22 Apr 2011]
Focus on Ireland’s Economy [12 Apr 2011]
A2 Macro: Back to Roubini - a Year On! [11 Apr 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Euro Area on the Rocks? [11 Apr 2011]
EU Economics - Portugal Reaches for Bail Out [6 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Fiscal Austerity [6 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Fiscal Deficit [3 Apr 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Data Charts (2) [30 Mar 2011]
Keeping Track of UK Macro Objectives [18 Mar 2011]
Focus on Japan - Human Catastrophe, Economic Risks [13 Mar 2011]
EU Economics: How far is the Eurozone away from being an OCA? [12 Mar 2011]
Dambisa Moyo - How the West was Lost [11 Mar 2011]
Ireland - Mass Unemployment and Shrinking GDP [10 Mar 2011]
EU Economics - Life at the jagged edge of the Euro Zone [20 Feb 2011]
Challenges facing the London Economy [12 Feb 2011]
Mo Tanweer on Global Currency Wars [10 Feb 2011]
David Smith on Shifting Sands in the Global Economy [8 Feb 2011]
Economics Q&A: Will the rise in VAT harm the UK’s economic performance? [17 Jan 2011]
Will we have to live with high unemployment? [17 Jan 2011]
EU Economics: Is 2011 the year the euro will fall? [9 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: Will the Government spending cuts affect inflation? [3 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: Why might Europe’s weaker economies struggle to grow in the next few years? [2 Jan 2011]
Revision: Consequences of Unemployment [1 Jan 2011]
EU Economics: EU Economy in Charts Jan 2011 [29 Dec 2010]
EU Economics: Estonia joins the Euro [27 Dec 2010]
EU Economics: European Fiscal Austerity Measures [24 Dec 2010]
HMV on the brink? [9 Dec 2010]
iLand - Shareholders and Taxpayers feel the Pain [24 Nov 2010]
The Acid Burns Through - Requiem for Neo Liberalism [28 Oct 2010]
Economist Public Debt Clock [6 Oct 2010]
IMF signs off on UK’s fiscal plans [27 Sep 2010]
Irish economy sinks deeper into recession [26 Sep 2010]
Germany speeds ahead [13 Aug 2010]
King on the economy [11 Aug 2010]
Typical 2689% APR…Eh?? [11 Aug 2010]
Tracking the UK’s debt bombshell! [3 Jul 2010]
Are we on the cusp of a second banking crisis? [1 Jun 2010]
Finding new opportunities among the economic wreckage [1 Jun 2010]
AS Macro Revision: Household Saving [30 May 2010]
AS Macro Revision: Consumer Borrowing [30 May 2010]
AS Macro Revision: The Importance of Consumption [30 May 2010]
Euro Land and Optimal Currency Areas - A Valentine’s Day Massacre [29 May 2010]
Warnings of hysteresis for the EU economy [29 May 2010]
AS Macro: Sterling and the UK Economy [29 May 2010]
Ireland’s GNP and the Debt Crisis [21 May 2010]
Japanese economy - exports up but debt squeeze tightens [20 May 2010]
Roubini at the LSE - governments run out of policy bullets [20 May 2010]
UK inflation hits 17-month high [18 May 2010]
The Financial Crisis and Beyond [6 May 2010]
Guardian interactive - PIIGS and Domino Effects [4 May 2010]
AS / A2 Revision - Where Next for the UK Economy? [2 May 2010]
Issues and Prospects for the UK Economy in 2010 [25 Apr 2010]
Bonds [24 Apr 2010]
Guardian Data Blog Facts on the UK Economy [23 Apr 2010]
CEP analysis of the UK economy [23 Apr 2010]
The (sovereign) default option is costly [7 Apr 2010]
Economics graphics from the Budget [28 Mar 2010]
Wen turns the tables [14 Mar 2010]
Sovereign debt hot spots [8 Mar 2010]
A Long View on National Debt [23 Feb 2010]
Margins and risk - the spiralling cost of credit [20 Feb 2010]
Lively articles on the fiscal stimulus debate [17 Feb 2010]
Assorted Links: 16 February 2010: Focus on the Euro [16 Feb 2010]
Evolution of an Economic Recovery [13 Feb 2010]
Take Off for Air Asia - Finding Opportunities in a Recession [13 Feb 2010]
Unearthing the ratings agencies [23 Jan 2010]
4 Conditions needed for recovery [14 Jan 2010]
Alcohol information failure [13 Jan 2010]
Assorted Links (11 Jan) - Focus on Business Economics [11 Jan 2010]
Assorted Links (30 Dec 2009) [29 Dec 2009]
A new take on the misery index [23 Dec 2009]
Rising savings ratio does not herald a return of thrift [23 Dec 2009]
Impact of global recession on developing countries [18 Dec 2009]

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