Free exchange | How to pay for the pandemic

摘要

THIS is NO time to fret about government debt. While cases of covid-19 soar and economic activity grinds to a halt, governments are right to throw all the resources they can at efforts to limit the pandemic's human and economic costs. This urgency notwithstanding, the crisis will push sovereign-debt burdens into new territory. Over the past century, major global crises have often led both to large-scale borrowing by governments and to changes-often radical-in the way they handle their creditors. The battle against covid-19 is unlikely to prove an exception. Economic rescue plans now being drawn up are likely to outstrip those employed during the financial crisis; America's may be worth around 10% of gdp. The blow to output and to tax revenues could also be larger. At least a few economies are likely to find themselves with debt loads well in excess of 150% of gdp.