The prevailing economic doctrine in the Nordics and Europe has it that, the lower the public debt, the more room there is for economic stimulation in downturns, such as the current covid-19 crisis. Denmark, Norway and Sweden with their comparatively low levels of public debt were able to announce relatively large economic crisis packages fairly quickly. Finland has a high level of public debt and is generally less economically flexible due to it being part of the eurozone. Despite the pressure to keep public debt down, the Nordics would do well not to sacrifice important public spending argues Ilkka Kärrylä. Read his contribution to the covid-19 debate on nordics.info: Nordic public debt: the dangers of restricting public spending due to the covid-19 crisis.
nordics.info is ReNEW's public outreach website that disseminates reliable, interdisciplinary information on the Nordic region. Content covers different aspects of the Nordic societies, including history, politics, social policy and culture. The website is hosted at Aarhus University and content is produced by a wide range of researchers.