ABSTRACT
The history of money is filled with accounts of panicky creditors, thought of as safe bets by their debtors, who Overnight cut off the credit lifeline. The legitimate concern about Austria's overindebtedness leads to the consideration of where the debt limits lie. The time horizon of the economic and fiscal policy controlling the foreign and domestic debt is thus substantially more limited than the existing financing and debt potential would normally allow. If we want to know how long or how short the time horizon really is, we must look at the controlling factors. The private sector sells its foreign exchange to its domestic banks, the Austrian National Bank gets it from these banks, and the treasury in turn gets it from the National Bank. The strong showing of Austria's export industry—its full effects are yet to be felt—is undoubtedly due to the productivity potential of the capital stock and capital intensity.
