Abstract
In the euro area, the sovereign debts of all Member States aspire to be equally safe but investors persistently discriminate between country debts. Empirically, the evidence suggests a clear role of ‘fundamentals’ in explaining government bond spreads between euro area countries. In particular, the level of indebtedness is found to weigh strongly on spreads in a non-linear fashion. Fiscal factors may however be tempered, or conversely exacerbated, by other factors including the external position, potential growth, and institutional quality. Notwithstanding other pressing policy priorities such as the energy transition and climate change, policy reforms aimed at credibly ensuring sustainable national debts therefore remain central to the governance equilibrium of the euro area.
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- The Economists’ Voice, June Issue 2023, Editorial
- Policy Papers
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- Can You Have Your Corporate Wokeism and Eat it too?
- Lessons from Latin America Dollarization in the Twenty First Century
- Measuring Communication Quality of Interest Rate Announcements
- The Political Economy of Transatlantic Security – A Policy Perspective
- Policy Forum: Monetary Policy and the Threat of Fiscal Dominance
- Apolitical Money – An Illusion?
- The ECB’s Transmission Protection Instrument and Fiscal Stability
- Debt Sustainability in the Emerging New EU Fiscal Framework: A Major Change
- Government Bond Spreads in the Euro Area
- Selective Bond Purchases – May the ECB Chose Winners and Losers?
- Britain’s Failed Attempt at Monetary and Fiscal Exceptionalism
- Government Debt and Monetary Policy Perspectives in Japan
- Long-Term Strategies to Reduce Public Debt from a Historical Perspective
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- The Economists’ Voice, June Issue 2023, Editorial
- Policy Papers
- Davids and Goliaths: Hidden Champions in an Age of Industrial Policy
- Can You Have Your Corporate Wokeism and Eat it too?
- Lessons from Latin America Dollarization in the Twenty First Century
- Measuring Communication Quality of Interest Rate Announcements
- The Political Economy of Transatlantic Security – A Policy Perspective
- Policy Forum: Monetary Policy and the Threat of Fiscal Dominance
- Apolitical Money – An Illusion?
- The ECB’s Transmission Protection Instrument and Fiscal Stability
- Debt Sustainability in the Emerging New EU Fiscal Framework: A Major Change
- Government Bond Spreads in the Euro Area
- Selective Bond Purchases – May the ECB Chose Winners and Losers?
- Britain’s Failed Attempt at Monetary and Fiscal Exceptionalism
- Government Debt and Monetary Policy Perspectives in Japan
- Long-Term Strategies to Reduce Public Debt from a Historical Perspective