Every debt crisis begins with unheeded warnings and ends with severe limits on investment in education, health, and infrastructure among other things. These crises often spark civil unrest and government collapse, delivering a lasting setback to the growth prospects of the affected country. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, global debt has surged. Today, 58 percent of the world’s poorest countries are in debt distress or at high risk of it, and the danger is spreading to some middle-income countries as well. High inflation, rising interest rates, and slowing growth have set the stage for financial crises of the type that engulfed a series of developing economies in the early 1980s. […]