In all countries debt and deficits of the public sector are at the heart of economic policy debate. Debt and deficits pose major problems, all the more pressing in Europe because of the Maastricht criteria for entry into European Monetary Union. And in the developing world debt has been associated with major financial crises. This volume, arising from an International Economic Association conference at the Bundesbank, sees academics and policy makers debate the key issues and their implications in theory and practice.

The International Economic Association - List of Participants and Contributors - Abbreviations and Acronyms - Introduction; M.King & G.Calvo - PART 1: OVERVIEW PAPERS - Debt and Monetary Policy: The Policy Issues; R.Dornbusch - Discussion; M.King - Debt, Cash Flow and Inflation Incentives: A Swedish Example; M.Persson, T.Persson & L.E.O. Svensson - Discussion; J.Campbell - PART 2: THE STRUCTURE AND MATURITY OF DEBT - Optimal Funding Policy; R.J.Barro - Discussion; F.Giavazzi - Global Government Securities Markets: Economics and Politics of Recent Market Microstructure Reforms; R.S.Kroszner - Discussion; J.Pitchford - PART 3: DEBT AND DOMESTIC MONETARY POLICY - Control of the Public Debt: A Requirement for Price Stability?; M.Woodford - Discussion; W.Perraudin - Towards a Political-Economic Theory of Domestic Debt; A.Drazen - Discussion; T.Ito - PART 4: DEBT AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MARKETS - Varieties of Capital-Market Crises; G.A.Calvo - Discussion; A.Razin - Debt and Exchange Rates; P.Kugler - Discussion; C.Bean - PART 5: DEBT AND MONETARY UNION - Credibility, Seigniorage and Government Debt in a Monetary Union; B.Huber - Discussion; A.Giovannini - Deficits, Debt and European Monetary Union: Some Unpleasant Fiscal Arithmetic; G.Winckler, E.Hochreiter & P.Brandner - Discussion; J.von Hagen - Index