Risks and Threats from High (and Excessive) Public Debt

The topic of discussion will focus on near-term and long-term economic consequences of high and rising debt. Excessively high debt levels are damaging for many reasons. Among others, they threaten economic vitality and place a strain on the budget. In the long term, they create geopolitical challenges and risks. But most of all, they are unfair to younger and future generations. The colloquium will attempt to answer the question of what level of public debt is safe, what are the conditions of its stability and the factors that increase the risk of a public finance crisis, and the consequences of high (but not yet crisis-inducing) public debt. Participants will also discuss the impact of public finances (public debt) on inflation and inflation on public finances. The colloquium will also outline the long-term challenges of public finance (using Poland as an example) and possible measures for responsible public finance.

Keynote speaker

Ludwik Kotecki is a member of the Monetary Policy Council of the fifth term. Until his appointment to the MPC, he was an economic consultant and advisor to many international institutions and organizations. He is a pioneer of green finance in Poland. Director of the Institute for Responsible Finance, expert of the Center for Strategic Thought and the European Financial Congress. In 2008-2012, he served as Deputy Minister of Finance and Government Plenipotentiary for the Introduction of the Euro in Poland. From 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the FSC and Chairman of the Board of the Bank Guarantee Fund. In 2015-2016, he served as Deputy Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC.

Discussants

• Mateusz Szczurek, Ph.D.
  Since 2016, he has been a regional economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a member of the five-member European Fiscal Council at the European Commission, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw. From 2013 to 2015, he was Poland’s finance minister, co-chairing the European People’s Party (EPP) group of finance ministers. Until 2013, he was regional economist at ING Bank, and before that chief economist at ING Bank Slaski. From 2011 to 2013, as a Polish representative, he served on the BIAC Business Advisory Committee to the OECD. Elected European Finance Minister of 2015 by The Banker magazine and Central and Eastern European Finance Minister by Euromoney. He has a PhD from the University of Sussex and also studied at the University of Warsaw and Columbia University.
• Sławomir Dudek, Ph.D.
  Founder, president and chief economist of the Institute of Public Finance, has served as Citizen Ombudsman for Transparency in Public Finance since 2023. Public finance expert with more than 23 years of experience at the Ministry of Finance. He headed the Department of Macroeconomic Policy for many years as director. Adjunct professor at the Institute of Economic Development at the Warsaw School of Economics.

Special Guest

Enrico Colombatto is Professor of Economics at the University of Turin and Chairman of IREF’s Scientific Committee. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics. He has been a visiting professor at a number of European and North American universities and advising governments and international organizations.

The event is open to everyone and will include a network session with refreshments.