Public Debt and J.S. Mill’s Conjecture: A Note

Tsoulfidis, Lefteris (2011): Public Debt and J.S. Mill’s Conjecture: A Note.

Abstract

Classical economists mainly Smith, Ricardo and J.S. Mill abhorred public debts because of their interference with capital accumulation. J.S. Mill in particular envisaged that a rising public debt leads to higher interest rates and falling real wages, a combination which may be consistent with a mildly increasing trend in the profit rate.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Classical Εconomists, Public Debt, J.S. Mill, Ricardian Equivalence
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B1 - History of Economic Thought through 1925 > B12 - Classical (includes Adam Smith); B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B50 - General; H - Public Economics > H6 - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt > H63 - Debt ; Debt Management ; Sovereign Debt; N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation > N43 - Europe: Pre-1913

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