Drelichman, MauricioVoth, Hans-JoachimUniversitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa2020-05-252020-05-252006-12-01The Journal of Economic History, December 2010, 70 (4), pp. 813-842.http://hdl.handle.net/10230/630The defaults of Philip II have attained mythical status as the origin of sovereign debt crises. We reassess the fiscal position of Habsburg Castile, deriving comprehensive estimates of revenue, debt, and expenditure from new archival data. The king s debts were sustainable. Primary surpluses were large and rising. Debt-to-revenue ratios remained broadly unchanged during Philip s reign. Castilian finances in the sixteenth century compare favorably with those of other early modern fiscal states at the height of their imperial ambitions, including Britain. The defaults of Philip II therefore reflected short-term liquidity crises, and were not a sign of unsustainable debts.application/pdfengL'accés als continguts d'aquest document queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commonsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaperdebt sustainabilityearly modern economic historyphilip iistate borrowingdebt overhangtax reformEconomic and Business Historyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess