Debt brakes for Euroland: Strengthening the stability pact with national debt rules

The euro-area countries urgently need to slash their debt and they will have to find new ways to address this task in the process. Germany’s debt brake is an intelligent concept for achieving a long-term reduction in public debt that could also be remodelled to fit the conditions in other euro countries. National debt brakes could help cut public debt on a long-term horizon without jeopardising the growth prospects of the euro-area economies.