Sovereign Debt, Public Perceptions, and Global Norms

Session Submission Type: In-Person Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel examines the role of both global norms and domestic political opinion in shaping the politics of sovereign debt, given the growing debt burdens around the world. Steinberg and McDowell examine how the interplay of global norms (from the IMF) and domestic populism in Mexico interplay to create resistance to increases in public spending. Mosley, Edgerton, and Brooks examine how states market their sovereign debt to investors and potentially manipulate the perceived risk of their debt. Zeitz examines how the rise of bilateral loans from developing country creditors, China foremost among them, is re-writing the global rules of lending. Finally, DiGiuseppe and Slaski examine the conflict between party ideology regarding debt management versus political incentives to accumulate debt in office. Together, the papers offer a novel perspective on the relationship between domestic and foreign forces, as well as ideological and distributive incentives, in debt accumulation and management.

Sub Unit

• Division 16: International Political Economy

Individual Presentations

• Austere Populism: Opposition to Debt Accumulation in Mexico During the Pandemic - David A. Steinberg, Johns Hopkins University; Daniel McDowell, Syracuse University

• Strategic Debt Management: How Governments Manipulate Bond Market Perceptions - Layna Mosley, Princeton University; Jared Falkenberg Edgerton, Ohio State University; Sarah M. Brooks, Ohio State University

• Partisan Ideology and Debt Policy Management - Matthew R. DiGiuseppe, Leiden University; Alexander Slaski, Leiden University

• From Neoliberalism to Orbàn: Political Disaffection and Populism in Europe - Mert Kartal, St. Lawrence University

Chair

• Alexander Slaski Leiden University

Discussants

• Patrick E. Shea University of Houston

• Matthew R. DiGiuseppe Leiden University