Here is the theoretical socialist country that I want to base this question on: The means of production is completely owned by the government (land, factories, natural resources, intellectual property for the most part.) The way this is done involves a series of competing, state owned corporations that give all of the profit generated within the country to the government. So the government essentially gets a large portion of national GDP as funding. "profit" that the government receives would come after paying workers and reasonable reinvestment into the companies themselves (new equipment, new locations, R&D, etc.)

    My question is, because the government would have so much funding, could it reinvest in the economy, fund welfare, and produce/maintain infrastructure without relying on debt? In this scenario, a debt to GDP ratio of 100% could be completely avoided by postponing projects for a few years and saving money to complete them without relying on significant debt (yearly debt to fill in gaps in funding would still make sense.) Would it not be more efficient to avoid the costly interest by delaying government investment, and in the long term, would economic growth without debt supersede an economy with debt because of interest payments?

    It's my basic understanding that the Soviet Union maintained a very low debt to GDP ratio, but it also had a failing economy for the last few decades.

    How feasible is it for a socialist country to go completely without national debt?
    byu/AutomaticGold2190 inAskEconomics



    Posted by AutomaticGold2190

    1 Comment

    1. It seems unlikely there would be ample government funding. Net operating surplus in the USA (so after accounting for depreciation) has been less than 30% of [GDP for the last 60 years](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/W271RE1A156NBEA) and that includes the imputed value of owner-occupied housing. Meanwhile US government spending (including transfers) has been above 30% at least since 2000.

      And if you are considering a socialist economy, this raises questions about how motivated will the managers of factories be to generate profits, if that profit is all going to government?

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