Borrowing to compete or survive a pandemic? - New directions in australian fiscal federalism

• Tracy Beck Fenwick ^[1]
  1. [1] Australian Centre for Federalism
• Localización: Revista "Cuadernos Manuel Giménez Abad", ISSN-e 2254-4445, Nº. Extra 9, 2023 (Ejemplar dedicado a: FISCAL FEDERALISM AND SUBNATIONAL FINANCE AFTER THE GREAT RECESSIOND AND COVID-19), págs. 33-53
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This paper shows that Australian net debt by government sector in 2021-22 was at an all-time high, higher than that experienced during the previous GFC crisis. It provides empirical evidence the contribution of the states and territories to all Australian public debt accumulation is currently higher relative to any other point in the history of Australian federalism. The percentage increase of the states’ net public sector debt since 2011-12, has considerably outpaced the Commonwealth’s. The key question, therefore, is whether these increases in public debt represent a critical juncture in Australian Fiscal Federalism, or, if they are simply pandemic related driven? Australian fiscal arrangements make the states and territories extremely fiscally inflexible during times of crisis. The paper establishes that Australia indeed does have the necessary conditions to pressure increasing state indebtedness in the future. These conditions, however, have not been sufficient to produce high levels of subnati