Introduction:
Analysis of the situation and premises
The gravity of the problem of public debt has not been underestimated. It is the foundation on which growth of the present historical period is built, indispensable for the purposes of increasing production of commodities. It is a choice pursued knowingly and unanimously by governments of the right and left in all industrialized countries.
The myth of unlimited growth through debt.
Speculation on treasury bonds of States with high levels of debt should have raised a question long ago: why have all industrialized countries accumulated increasing public debt in recent years, up to levels that in 2010 reached from 80% in the United Kingdom to 225.8% in Japan? In 2010, the debt/GDP ratio in the Eurozone rose from 79.3% to 85.1%, despite the fact that the Stability Pact signed by EU countries in 1999 fixed the maximum threshold of this ratio at 60%. Why do States and local administrations systematically spend more than their revenue? Why does the banking system induce families to spend more than their incomes? The answer is intuitive: because overproduction of commodities has reached such high levels that if people did not borrow, unsold commodities would build up, triggering a crisis that could destroy economies and production based on unlimited growth of GDP.

Contribution to the 3rd International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity in Venice in 2012.