Bonds or Bust!

George Soros' latest op-ed in the Project Syndicate reasserts his view how perpetual bonds could help the European Union overcome its deadlock on fiscal spending. Our panelists will discuss the proposal and reflect which openings exist to shape Europe’s fiscal future.

An Effective Response to Europe’s Fiscal Paralysis (Excerpt)

By: George Soros | Project Syndicate | November 30, 2020

I have written a lot about the desirability of the European Union issuing perpetual bonds. But today I am proposing that individual member states should do so.

Right now, it would be impossible for the EU to issue perpetual bonds, because the member states are too divided. Poland and Hungary have vetoed the next EU budget and the COVID-19 recovery fund, and the so-called Frugal Five (Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden) are more interested in saving money than in contributing to the common good. Investors will buy perpetual bonds only from an entity that they believe will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. That was true of Britain in the eighteenth century (when it issued Consols) and of the United States in the nineteenth century (when it consolidated individual states’ debt). Sadly, it is not true of the EU today.

To read the full essay click here.

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