Reinhart-Rogoff Acknowledge Mistake in 2010 Paper Cited by Ryan

Harvard University economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff acknowledged today that they had made a mistake in a 2010 paper that has been used to justify fiscal consolidation in the U.S. and Europe, while arguing that the error didn’t change the basic findings of their research.

The paper, “Growth in a Time of Debt,” concluded that countries with public debt in excess of 90 percent of gross domestic product suffered measurably slower economic growth. It has been cited by U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn in defense of efforts to drive down budget deficits.