Abstract
Previous academic literature has criticised bond buyback as a ‘”boondoggle” benefiting a country’s creditors’—meaning that buybacks are a wasteful use of public money. This paper challenges the narrow financial–economic perspective behind that statement by adopting a broader socio-political framework that includes the potential benefits of buyback for citizens, not just financial market costs. In particular, buyback does not necessarily require a budget surplus via higher local taxes and/or increased austerity measures.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 571-580 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Public Money and Management |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 20 May 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Nov 2019 |
Keywords
- Bond buyback
- creative accounting
- debt management
- fiscal consolidation
- public sector austerity
- ‘boondoggle’
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Business,Management and Accounting
- Sociology and Political Science
- Public Administration