On the National Debt

I wanted to write something on the National Debt as a constraint on fiscal policy, here are my confusing notes.

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Links & News

UK signals expansion of short-term debt market in ‘radical’ borrowing shift at the FT (usual constraints); Liz Webster claims its going to make things worse, I am not so sure. One needs to understand the flexibility of the coupon yield. 28/11/2025

1. National Debt by country by the IMF
2. Public sector debt and money markets operations etc (including reserves) by the BoE, I say, “Why is the BoE data so impenetrable?”
3. Foreign Debt: Definition and Economic Impact from Investopedia – Excessive levels of foreign debt can hamper countries’ ability to invest in their economic future—whether it be via infrastructure, education, or health care—as their limited revenue goes to servicing their loans. This thwarts long-term economic growth.
4. Potential vulnerabilities from a rising stock of foreign-held debt, by the OBR
5. UK debt held by foreign investors, a series of charts, from 2003, to 2023, focusing on the proportion, which has been increasing but because domestic saving has collapsed. By Economics Help.

More …

1. Some leftist economic policies on macro, but references a debt ceiling via Rachel Reeves: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, by Simon Nixon at Bylines Times.
2. https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/debt-statistics/ids from the World Bank
3. General Government Debt by the IMF the IMF page, with UK/US/Italy/Japan charted PSBR/GDP.
4. Public finances: Economic indicators HoC LIbrary, 20 June 2025

Gemini says

1. What are the negative effects of foreign owned debt ?
2. Show me the list of countries world wide ordered by foreign held public debt as a proportion of total debt? Can’t do that