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public debt

公債 ／ public-debt　—　Institutions

The instrument by which a government borrows widely from private hands.

Écu of Louis XVI Écu of Louis XVI1783 Assignat of 5 livres (national lands) Assignat of 5 livres (national lands)1789–96 George III Sovereign 1817 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) George III Sovereign 1817 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)1817
A photograph of what this word names.

⚠ The institutionalization of debt was a major turning point in monetary history. The moment parliaments began to guarantee repayment, rather than kings borrowing and defaulting as individuals, national debt became an object of investment, and interest rates fell.