Are savers and investors currently right to believe that governments are solvent?
The low level of long-term interest rates and sovereign risk premia shows that savers and investors today believe that governments are solvent and that the public debt is sustainable (we look at the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Japan). Are they right? The first question concerns the relative levels of long-term interest rates and nominal growth; the fiscal solvency condition is not at all the same depending on whether the long-term interest rate is higher or lower than nominal growth; If we assume that the long-term interest rate will remain lower than nominal growth, we can calculate the maximum primary fiscal deficit compatible with fiscal solvency. When comparing it with actual developments, we see that in 2022, debt sustainability is not ensured in any of the seven countries, particularly not in France and Spain.