Financial Power and Democratic Legitimacy: How To Think Realistically About Public Debt

Abstract

To what extent are questions of sovereign debt a matter for political rather than scientific or moral adjudication? We answer that question by defending three claims. We argue that (i) moral and technocratic takes on sovereign debt tend to be ideological in a pejorative sense of the term, and that therefore (ii) sovereign debt should be politicised all the way down. We then show that this sort of politicisation need not boil down to the crude Realpolitik of debtor-creditor power relations—a conclusion that would leave no room for normative theory, among other problems. Rather, we argue that (iii) in a democratic context, a realist approach to politics centred on what Bernard Williams calls ‘The Basic Legitimation Demand’ affords a deliberative approach to the normative evaluation of public debt policy options.

Impact of a Proposed Strategy According to Luria’s Model in Realistic Thinking and Achievement in Mathematics

“…Only individuals who have "RT" can succeed. Even the world of work requires individuals with high (RT) skills [37]. Realistic things are what the learner feels in his personal life, touches, or sees, a thinking that includes listening to discussions and preferring realistic scientific aspects.…”

How radical is radical realism?

“…341–342), meanwhile, propose a slightly different model of ideology critique, according to which ideas are distorted in virtue of their dependence on concepts that function in ways that may be concealed from ordinary speakers. For example, debates about sovereign debt are plagued with claims that are presented as universally accepted by experts, even though no such expert consensus actually exists (Prinz & Rossi, 2021). On this view, ideas can in principle be distorted without the power and interests of others or the wishes of the agent playing a role.…”

“…On this view, ideas can in principle be distorted without the power and interests of others or the wishes of the agent playing a role. Yet in reality, power asymmetries “are likely to be part of the picture” (Prinz & Rossi, 2021, p. 7). Elsewhere, Rossi (2019, see also Rossi & Argenton, 2021) develops yet another model, according to which ideological distortions stem from treating power as self‐justifying.…”

Citizen Tax Juries: Democratizing Tax Enforcement after the Panama Papers

“…However, I do think issues like central banking and public debt present some of the same normative dilemmas as tax sheltering, though there are also important differences between the two issues. For a critical realist argument for subjecting credit-debtor relationships to more deliberative scrutiny, see Prinz and Rossi (2021).…”