Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/177836 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
Economics Discussion Papers No. 2018-33
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel
Abstract: 
In this paper the authors recall the history of Jubilee debt cancellations, emphasizing what their social purpose was at that time. They note that it would not be possible to copy that procedure exactly nowadays, primarily because most debt/credit relationships are intermediated via financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies, etc., rather than by governments or wealthy families directly. But the authors argue that the underlying social purpose of such Jubilees - to keep debt within the reasonable ability to be paid without social and economic polarisation - could be recreated via alternative mechanisms, and they discuss the politico-economic arguments for, and against, doing so.
Subjects: 
inequality
debt-canceling Jubilees
Babylonian and Byzantine empires
equity participation
student loans
land tax
JEL: 
E60
E61
E62
E65
H10
H23
H80
N30
N35
P43
Q15
R52
Z13
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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