Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 06/2011

Global fiscal consolidation

Warwick McKibbin

May 2011

Lowy Institute for International Policy

Abstract

One important outcome of the Great Recession has been the rapid accumulation of government debt in many of the world's developed economies. This growing debt burden represents a potential threat to economic stability, and as a result, the focus of fiscal policy is now shifting from stimulus to consolidation. In a new paper prepared for the 10th anniversary meeting of the Asian Economic Panel held in New York in March this year, Warwick McKibbin and Andrew Stoeckel examine the national and global consequences of fiscal consolidation.