Overview

As the global economy recovers from its worst recession since the Second World War, the financial markets have shifted their focus to the high levels of public debt in many countries across the world.

These high levels of debt are clearly unsustainable. The question is when they should start being reduced, at what rate and using what measures. This is a difficult balancing act for governments: they do not want to risk undermining their country’s economic recovery or indeed their own political position, but they equally have to ensure that they do enough to appease the nervous financial markets.

This review considers the current levels of public debt in 28 countries, assessing what measures their governments are taking to reduce their budget deficit levels and how much headway they are likely to have made in reducing them by 2013.


CONTENTS

• Executive summary
• Current levels of public debt
• Current budget deficit levels
• Projected budget deficit levels for 2013
• Deficit-cutting measures
• Last year’s tax measures
• Next year’s tax measures
• Reducing the tax gap
• Final thoughts: lessons to be learned
• About the review