AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC DEBT - Prepared for Second General Session - July 15-29, 1927

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Miles

Bibliographic microform record for a preliminary paper titled Australian Public Debt, prepared for the Second General Session of the Institute of Pacific Relations, July 15–29, 1927. Content analyzes the growth and structure of Australia’s public debt during the twentieth century, emphasizing war-debt “deadweight” burdens and the later decline in foreign borrowing shares. It discusses annual public interest changes, nominal taxation figures, price-level context, and the role of public borrowing in economic development through public works and railways.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Growth of Public Debt

Nature of the Public Debt

97-84263-8Mills,Richard Charles Australian public debt Honolulu 1927 # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED-EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD 308Z Box 915 Mills,Richard Charles,1886- Australian public debt.Honolulu,1927.8 p.tables, At head of title:Institute of PacificRelations.Preliminary paper prepared forSecond Gene ral Session,July 15-29,1927. 1.Debts,Public -Australia.I.Instituteof Pacific Relations.2d Conference,Honolulu,1927.O NNC RESTRICTIONS ON USE: Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Libranies. # TECHNICAL MICROFOBM DATA FILM SIZE: 35mnREDUCTION BATIO: 11:1 IIA)IB IIB IMAGE PLACEMENT:IA INITIALS: 1 DATE FILMED: 11-259 TRACKING\#: Z9296 FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES,BETHLEHEM,PA. # BIBLIOGRAPHIC IRREGULARITIES MAIN ENTRY:Mills,Richard Charles …… ………………………- - … …---- Australian public deb ……… …… ………- --- -- -- Bibliographic Irregularities in the Original Document: List allvolumes and pages affected;include name of institution if filming borrowed text. Page(s)missing/not available:_ Volume(s)missing/not available: XIllegible and/or damaged page(s):_front cover Page(s)or volume(s)misnumbered: Bound out of sequence: Page(s)or volume(s)filmed from copy borrowed from: Other: Inserted material: 3204 # Institute of Pacific Relations Preliminary Paper Prepared forSecond General SessionJuly 15-29,1927 Trana,fraTeachers S81 L:bDau.zU,1 # AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC DEBT By R.C.MITLS,LLM,D.Se.(Econ.)Dean of the Faculty of Economics,University of Sydney308ZOX91HONOLULU,HJUNE,1927 ## Australian Public Debt MdV IGROWTH OF PUBLIC DEBT 1959 Table I gives a picture of the development during the present centuryof the total nominal debt of the Commonwealth and of the States.Itwillbe noticed that both the aggregate amount and the amount per headof mean population have increased rapidly since the outbreak of war.Ofthe total increase,war debt,which has been incurred by the Common-wealth alone,has been responsible for rather more than half.Anotherfeature worthy of remnark is that whereas in the first part of the presentcentury by far the greatest proportion of the public debt was borrowedfrom abroad,since the war that proportion has been steadily decreasinguntil it is now approximately only half of the total. AUG 1.1 Annual Public Interest,too,which was in the earlier years of thecentury fairly constant in amount,with a slight tendency to increase,hasgone ahead rapidly since the outbreak of war,and now amounts to atotal of over f50 millions a year,of which approximately half is payableabroad and half payable at home.The increased interest bill is reflectedin figures of taxation which,both in the aggregate and per head of popu-lation,has rapidly increased during the war and post-war period.It is tobe remembered that these figures are nominal and are therefore to beconsidered along with changes in the general level of prices.These chang-es may be approximately measured by the index number which appearsin the last column.It will be noticed that,as in most other countries,prices rose very sharply during the war,reaching their highest point in1920. ## II.NATURE OF THE PUBLIC DEBT That portion of the public debt which owes its origin to the war isof the familiar“deadweight”non-productive type,which represents,inpart,the burden laid upon Australia for her share im the World War. The remainder of the debt,howev

FAQs

What does the paper say about how Australia’s public debt developed over the twentieth century?

It explains that both total nominal debt and debt per head of mean population increased rapidly since the outbreak of war. It also notes that the foreign-borrowing proportion has steadily decreased since the war to about half of the total.

How does the paper distinguish war debt from the rest of the public debt?

War debt is described as the familiar “deadweight” non-productive type that represents Australia’s burden for its share in World War. The remainder is characterized as debt incurred by public authorities for economic development via public works.

Why does the paper connect external debts and public borrowing to resource development?

It argues that governments may contract external debts to develop large, undeveloped natural resources too big for their subjects to develop unaided. It emphasizes that in Australia, economic exploitation of such resources has been undertaken largely by public rather than private borrowing.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Miles