Government Debt is an Obstacle to Economic Growth: A Worldwide Panel Data Analysis (1950-2011)

Abstract

In the present paper it will be pointed out that government debt is an obstacle to economic growth, thus supporting further the view of (Georgiou, 2009a). Data are kindly offered by (Paolo Mauro et al., 2013) and cover 55 countries for the period (1950-2011). It is worth noting that these findings hold true all over the world and in a very large time-period. This conclusion is also interesting from the economic history point of view. The elaboration of these panel data is made feasible by means of the Eviews software package.

Keywords: Econometric models with panel data (single equation), Economic Growth, Debt, Obstacles to Economic Growth, International Economy, Economic History

JEL Classification: C23, F43, H6