Local authorities: When the debt tide turns

Where next for indebted councils up and down England?

With global debt creeping towards $250trn, it is at a level that, to be understated, raises a few eyebrows.

However, for the time being, the cost of servicing such debt remains remarkably low. For context, the US alone represents about $70trn of that debt, with US government debt alone equal to circa 100% of GDP.  Let us imagine the cost of that debt jumped overnight unexpectedly by 100bps (1%). It would send shockwaves through the debt market, and in turn, the equity market.  It would also signal that policymakers were concerned the quantum of debt in the system was too fast and loose. That is precisely what happened last month when the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) moved rates from 1....