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Strategic Debt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2008

Carla Norrlöf
Carla Norrlöf*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Carla Norrlöf, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, Room 018, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 3G3, carla.norrlof@utoronto.ca.
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Abstract

Abstract. Accumulating debt is usually harmful for states, but a cyclical deficit policy and large-scale borrowing have been beneficial for the United States. While structural changes in the international political economy may cap America's future ability to process debt, an empirical analysis of the economic dimensions of hegemony over the last quarter century shows unambiguously that the hegemon reaps disproportionate gains in the area of trade and investment. This finding provides new insight on whether it is advantageous to be a hegemon.

Résumé. Les États pâtissent généralement de l'accumulation des dettes, mais une politique de déficit cyclique et le recours à de larges emprunts ont pourtant été bénéfiques aux États-Unis. La capacité future de la puissance américaine à gérer sa dette sera peut-être entamée par les changements structurels subis par l'économie politique mondiale. Toutefois, l'analyse empirique des dimensions économiques de la situation d'hégémonie durant les vingt-cinq dernières années met à jour, et sans ambiguïté aucune, les gains disproportionnés générés par l'hégémon dans les domaines du commerce et de l'investissement. Cette recherche apporte un éclairage nouveau au débat sur les avantages liés à la position d'hégémon.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 411 - 435
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2008

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