<p>This morning I read the following article: </p>

<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49961301" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49961301</a></p>

<p>It got me thinking, is there any country in the world not in debt? I am aware that debt is good for a country, but to what extent? I am fairly uneducated in this area so please educate me!</p>

<p>Thanks in advance. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-08T07:19:19.973Z
Research in this area is pretty controversial. You want to google debt to GDP ratio (and [putative] effects on growth). See https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2013/apr/17/rogoff-reinhart-defend-debt-study for instance
fantastic peace and prosperity
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2019-10-08T07:28:50.730Z
Nevertheless academics still publish quite a bit about it. [This slightly more recent paper](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2014.03.009) has been cited a fair bit. Not sure if it's because it's controversial or just accepted.
fantastic peace and prosperity
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2019-10-08T07:30:40.317Z
@Fizz why is this area so controversial? Seems like a good subject to educate people on
EcSync
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-08T07:51:38.200Z
The results are controversial for political reasons. Also establishing causality is never easy in retrospect, so the methodology is complex and prone to criticism. See also https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2014.09.007 or https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2015.09.004 (the latter in more extended form: http://www.bath.ac.uk/economics/research/working-papers/2017-papers/heterogeneity-in-the-debt-growth-nexus.pdf)
fantastic peace and prosperity
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-08T07:59:11.317Z
Also "debt overhang" is something you may want to look into e.g. https://www.esm.europa.eu/sites/default/files/wp36final.pdf
fantastic peace and prosperity
<international-economics><government-debt>
Is there a country in the world not in debt?
EcSync
# Is there a country in the world not in debt?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-08)

This morning I read the following article:

<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49961301>

It got me thinking, is there any country in the world not in debt? I am aware that debt is good for a country, but to what extent? I am fairly uneducated in this area so please educate me!

Thanks in advance.

**Tags:** international-economics, government-debt

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Research in this area is pretty controversial. You want to google debt to GDP ratio (and [putative] effects on growth). See https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2013/apr/17/rogoff-reinhart-defend-debt-study for instance  
> **username_1**: Nevertheless academics still publish quite a bit about it. [This slightly more recent paper](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2014.03.009) has been cited a fair bit. Not sure if it's because it's controversial or just accepted.  
> **username_0**: @Fizz why is this area so controversial? Seems like a good subject to educate people on  
> **username_1**: The results are controversial for political reasons. Also establishing causality is never easy in retrospect, so the methodology is complex and prone to criticism. See also https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2014.09.007 or https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2015.09.004 (the latter in more extended form: http://www.bath.ac.uk/economics/research/working-papers/2017-papers/heterogeneity-in-the-debt-growth-nexus.pdf)  
> **username_1**: Also "debt overhang" is something you may want to look into e.g. https://www.esm.europa.eu/sites/default/files/wp36final.pdf  

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## 0 answers

