The Morality of Government Debt: An analysis based in Catholic Social Thought and Teaching

The continued accumulation of debt and the growth of deficits among the world’s most- developed nations is a subject of concern from both an economic and a moral point of view. While previous theological discussion surrounding the subject of government debt has focused on the plight of the world’s smallest and poorest nations, few have focused on the moral implications of large and wealthy nations continuing to imprudently amass debt. This study takes the moral and theological arguments created during the developing-world debt crises of the 1980s and 1990s and applies them to the impending debt crises facing the world’s developed nations. By understanding the moral, theological, and economic arguments promulgated during the latter half of the 20th century, including an understanding of the Catholic Church’s emphasis on the proper development of a nation and its people, as well as to the importance placed on the motives of those politicians and officials involved in transacting government debt deals, those same arguments can be applied to the situations faced by the world’s developed nations who are currently facing or who may face debt crises of their own. Applying these concepts and themes to the debt situation faced by the world’s most- developed nations enables us to speak to the consciences of those lawmakers and officials who are continuing to accumulate massive debt and drive-up national deficits without making concrete plans for repaying what has been borrowed. The work also addresses those citizens in democratic nations who continue to support politicians who take the route of borrow and spend in an effort to avoid tax increases. It seeks to help all parties to concern themselves not only with short-term political gain, but with the larger ideas of intergenerational justice, the proper functioning of government and the right and proper development of their nation and themselves.