A Way Out of Debt Budgets: Is it Possible to Repay Public Debt?

Is the increase in public debt a problem, does it make sense and is it possible to repay public debt? Manfred Overhaus, former state secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance, presents a concept that further develops the debt brake anchored in Germany’s constitution into a form of debt repayment which, in his opinion, would not excessively burden its citizens. Ulrich Maas, a board member of KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft and chairman of the Institute for the Public Sector, Berlin, completes the debt repayment concept with a strategy of sustainable and transparent fiscal policy, which highlights both the financial consequences of public action, as well as the actual liabilities incurred. For Karl Aiginger and Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, the Austrian Institute for Economic Research, Vienna, a growth policy with a social and ecological focus is the condition for budget consolidation, so that this can take place without the loss of any jobs.