Public debt will increase enormously in the coming decades: problematic or not?

The public debt may increase enormously in the coming decades. In a figure by the CPB one can see that the public debt in 2060 will consist of about 92% of GDP. In a tweet, the CPB let the graph for the long-term national debt slip through the figure borders. Jacobs sees it as a confirmation of what he and other economists have been warning about.

‘The CPB is always very neutral when it comes to its policy analyses. This is a transcription, but jokes like this show what the CPB is concerned about. I only saw confirmation in that,' says Jacobs.

Governing beyond its reign

‘There is a lack of clarity in the funds, plans that have not yet been worked out. There is a big problem in the sums and that is clearly shown by the figure of the national debt. The government is allocating itself a lot of money by stretching the budget frameworks by creating all these funds and thereby governing beyond its reign.'

‘The national debt is not the problem, even if it rises to 90 per cent. I was also one of the economists who, over the past ten years, constantly said: guys, the interest on the national debt is so low, the interest charges are not the problem, now use this favourable financial and economic climate to implement structural reforms and make public investments.’

Big question marks

According to Jacobs, a lot of money is being spent, while there are big question marks over whether that money is being spent in the most efficient way. ‘There is enough money, but that does not relieve you of the duty to spend it as efficiently as possible.’