Governments sometimes get themselves into trouble with too much debt. Early economist Adam Smith devoted the last chapter of his famous Wealth of Nations (1776) to the topic of sovereign default. “The progress of the enormous debts which at present oppress, and will in the long-run probably ruin, all the great nations of Europe, has been pretty uniform,” Smith wrote. “The practice of funding [financing deficits with debt] has gradually enfeebled every state which has adopted it.” Read More ›
