The covid-19 pandemic is set to increase public debt to levels last seen after the second world war. But is rising public debt a cause for concern? New economic thinking suggests perhaps not, at least for now. Further reading: Find The Economist’s most recent coverage of covid-19 here: https://econ.st/31E02VY Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter to keep up to date with our latest covid-19 coverage: https://econ.st/3ghRh7W Why economics sometimes changes its mind: https://econ.st/3hXRP41 Read more about the debt after covid-19: https://econ.st/2DtpX92 Why governments must beware the lure of free money: https://econ.st/2GufJXf Read about the Fed’s biggest inflation-policy change in decades: https://econ.st/31VyJG0 Why covid-19 could eventually lead to the return of inflation: https://econ.st/354m9X4 Read about the economies that have started to bounce back: https://econ.st/2OM8fzA Why fiscal policy must shift as economies start to recover: https://econ.st/3hnBSDB Read our article on the resilience of banks: https://econ.st/3hjG8E2 Why investors at home and abroad are buy American government debt: https://econ.st/3hYBBaM