Estimates of current-policy fiscal trajectories among the world’s advanced economies can be used to evaluate their long-term fiscal sustainability. Studying these economies, it is quite evident that though the short-term fiscal measures used in many countries, such as the debt-to-GDP ratio and the current budget deficit as a share of GDP, may in some cases be reasonably good indicators of long-run sustainability, as for Australia and South Korea, for example, they bear little relationship to the sustainability of policy for many others. This is true for Italy and Greece, which appear to be on relatively sustainable paths despite challenging short-run statistics, and for Japan and the United States, for which worrisome short-run measures nonetheless understate the magnitude of long-run challenges. Whilst one may be able to discount our negative long-term projections due to the uncertainty involved in such forecasts, based on the demographic transition that is underway, one cannot ignore their general negative direction.
Many advanced countries face fiscal challenges that — rather than primarily evolving from prior debt obligations — concern future obligations, with an increasing impact on primary deficits. These obligations are primarily associated with the cost of providing pensions and healthcare in the face of growing old-age dependency ratios. These ‘demographic and health’ deficits present a number of challenges to the formulation and implementation of future fiscal adjustments.