Resources

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Exercises

Figures

Figure 1: Total debt stock of the 131 low- and middle-income countries in trillions of USD (panel a), and as a percentage of gross national income or exports and primary income (panel b).
Figure 2: Total debt stock of low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries as a percentage of gross national income (panel a) or exports and primary income (panel b).
Figure 3: How interest rates and the loan term affect the debt service. Debt service per year is calculated as the principal divided by the loan term, plus the interest on remaining debt.
Figure 4: Total debt service on external debt of low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries as a percentage of gross national income (panel a) or exports and primary income (panel b).
Figure 5: Number of LMI countries (out of 131) that spend more on servicing debt than on important budget items.
Figure 6: A country’s intertemporal decision problem, with and without access to credit.
Figure 7: Investment opportunities expand a country’s consumption possibilities and make a country better off.
Figure 8: Opening the economy to credit by stages.
Figure 9: The budget constraint, changes in expected income streams, and changes in the interest rate.
Figure 10: An unpleasant surprise increase in the cost of servicing the debt.
Figure 11: Short-termism in an intertemporal consumption problem.
Figure 12: Short-termism in an intertemporal investment problem.
Figure 13: JP Morgan Chase Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI) spreads (2010–2024).
Figure 14: Argentine debt (1980–2022).
Figure 15: A transitory commodity boom.
Figure 16: Short-termism in a transitory commodity boom.
Figure 17: A supposedly permanent commodity boom that turns out to be transitory can make the country worse off than it was before the boom.