Publications & Media Page

Detter & Co’s work on public assets, public balance sheets, public net worth and state capacity has appeared across leading financial, policy and international institutions,
including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Foreign Affairs, IMF, World Bank, ADB, McKinsey, OMFIF and Project Syndicate.
This page brings together selected articles, reports, media appearances and institutional references.

Financial and economic media

Economist

Large economic gains can come from mundane improvements in policy

How to plug budget holes by managing public wealth better

The neglected wealth of nations - Cash-strapped governments are leaving riches by the wayside

Financial Times

Letter: Singapore’s disciplined balance-sheet management

Best summer books of 2024: Economics

On public finance, ignorance is not bliss

IMF urges governments to focus on assets

Lessons from New Zealand on fiscal discipline

America’s Governmental Accounting Standards Board is giving ruinously bad advice

US cities must unlock the value of the land they sit on

Public sector assets are a gold mine waiting to be tapped

Public sector needs to do a better job with assets

The FT’s best books of 2015 - Financial Times

Build houses on Britain’s wasted public land

The Public Wealth of Nations,

Swedish lessons for EU bank owners

Self-Assembly Solution

Sweden warned to simplify state sell-off

Welcome to the ways of the market

OMFIF

A first task for the next prime minister and chancellor

Map and manage the assets Britain already owns

Converting capacity into credibility – Public control is not a fiscal strategy

The sovereign needs a balance sheet strategy

China overcapacity mirrors Europe underinvestment

Wars are won by capacity - Public assets are the overlooked advantage

Sri Lanka’s missing balance sheet

Bridging the sovereign balance-sheet gap

America’s hidden metropolitan real estate portfolios

Reconstruction as financial architecture: Ukraine’s capital market moment

Japan’s missing balance sheet

Visibility Needed in the UK’s Balance Sheet Blindness, Not Transparency

The West can learn from China’s investment approach

Revamping Public Accounting Rules to Spur Investment on Energy, Defence and Resilience

Funding future cities with sustainable non-tax revenue

Both Government Liabilities and Assets Matter for Sovereign Risk

Winning the post-pandemic peace

Project Syndicate

Fixing Public Finances Without a Chainsaw

A stronger recovery through better accounting

Unlocking public wealth

An infrastructure plan that would actually work

The Hidden Wealth of Cities

Public Finance

Financial sector reform and public asset management – the case of Ethiopia

We’ve reached peak state capitalism – what comes next?

Does introducing Net Worth-based fiscal rules represent ‘a long walk for a small sandwich’?

Professional management of public assets is the gateway to recovery

Public financial management 2.0

Tilted balance: Making the most of public sector assets

The day after tomorrow requires a modern Marshall Plan

Modern accounting could restore faith in democracy

Look to the professional management of assets for fiscal innovation

Cities and infrastructure

'Wishful thinking' won't help health or infrastructure

U.S. local governments need more financial independence

Don't want another parking meter deal, Chicago? Here is the smart way to fix infrastructure

How cities can lead the way in bridging the global housing gap

Is this the simple solution that could fix public funding?

2 simple steps that can unlock the hidden wealth of cities

Cities are struggling under the strain of their own popularity

UK councils are taking huge commercial risks in trying to be hedge fund managers

The solution to the NHS funding crisis? Its property

Cash-strapped cities, don’t seek private cash – sweat your own assets

NHS is sitting on the solution to its problems

An Urban Wealth Fund would revolutionize public finance

DEFENCE & FOREIGN POLICY MEDIA

Realcleardefence: The Pentagon Needs To Show How Spending Becomes Capacity

foreign policy: Getting a Handle on National Wealth - It’s time to unleash the untapped potential of public assets — and that doesn’t have to mean privatization.

Foreign Affairs: Hidden Assets - How Countries Can Capitalize on Public Wealth

OTHER MEDIA

The National: Rebuilding the Middle East requires not just investment but also financial architecture

L´ Opinion: Finances publiques - la valorisation des actifs est tout aussi importante que le montant des dettes

Wealth of Nations: Carney is Shooting at the Wrong Target

The Pioneer: Deutschland ist reicher, als es die Politik vermuten lässt

Barron's: No Money for Public Infrastructure? New Zealand Has the Answer

Bloomberg: New Zealand May Have a Solution for the World’s $100 Trillion Public Debt

Wealth of Nations: The Short History of an Old Idea

Bloomberg: How Governments Lose Trillions Mismanaging Property

Barron's: Governments Should Be Run More Like Businesses

Reuters Breakingviews: Governments need more accountants

Barron's: The World's forgotten Asset Class

Wall Street Journal: New York Can Earn the Money to Pay for Better Subways

Reuters Breakingviews: Greek privatisation could produce double bonus

IMF Blog

How Accountants Can Help Save Public Finances

The Public Wealth Fund: A Double-Edged Tool

Thinking Like an Accountant: Is that all bad?

Recruiting Non-Executive Directors to Manage Government-Owned Commercial Assets

Public Financial Management and Google Maps

Unexpected Help in Fiscal Distress

Exploring the Unknown: How Asset Maps Can Transform Public Financial Management

Mapping the Unknown

Why Public Assets Are Key to Debt Sustainability

How Government Equity Investments Can Help Boost the Recovery

How Better Management of Public Assets Can Boost the Recovery

IFAC Economic Growth - The World Needs Accountants

IMF F&D MAGAZINE: Unlocking public wealth

Public Ownership of Commercial Assets — A Quarter Century Phony War

World Bank Blogs

Uncovering hidden treasure: How asset maps can transform public financial management in MENA

Paying for development – Governments are sitting on a ‘goldmine’

A wealth of opportunities: Public real estate management as a tool for good governance

Other reports

Unlocking the Hidden Value of Public Assets

Why the UK Doesn’t Have Sovereign Wealth Funds – And Reasons Why It Should

Reforming New Zealand’s Public Financial Management System

The Importance of the Balance Sheet in Managing Government Finances

Public Assets – Key to Meeting Fiscal Challenges

Restructuring the Swedish Government’s Portfolio of Public Commercial Assets

Our Untapped Wealth: Toward Modern Management of Public Assets

GFOA: Putting public assets to work

Using public real estate to fuel a postpandemic recovery

International Journal of Public Policy

The potential of state commercial property: mapping and managing non-financial public assets

2019-03-29

ADB: Public Commercial Assets - The Hidden Goldmine

Public Wealth of Cities - How to Turn Around Cities Fortunes by Unlocking Public Assets

Unlocking the Value of Global Public Assets

Putting Public Assets to Work

IMF and the public-sector balance-sheet

The Cost of Future Policy: Intertemporal Public Sector Balance Sheets in the G7

Shows how net-worth fiscal anchors can support investment and growth while maintaining debt sustainability.

2024

The Cost of Future Policy: Intertemporal Public Sector Balance Sheets in the G7

Shows why long-term public sector balance sheets matter for fiscal sustainability.

2021

Fiscal Monitor: SOEs - The Other Government

Highlights the macroeconomic importance of state-owned enterprises and the need for improved oversight.

2020

Public Sector Balance Sheet Strength and the Macro Economy

Institutional reference on the macroeconomic relevance of public sector balance-sheet strength.

2019

Fiscal Monitor: Managing Public Wealth

Shows the scale and fiscal importance of public assets and the potential gains from better management.

2018

Government Finance Statistics Manual

Consolidated the shift toward accrual-based public accounting, integrating assets and liabilities alongside cash reporting.

2014

Media, interviews and talks

Radio & Podcast

IMF Podcast

Monocle Podcast - Boosting prosperity in our urban centres

The Bond Buyer - An Urban Wealth Fund would revolutionize public finance

Historical implementation and early validation

Early coverage of Sweden’s active ownership reforms and the origins of the public commercial asset agenda.

This section supports the point that the work is based on implementation experience, not only commentary.

Swedish lessons for EU bank owners - Financial Times

Lessons from Sweden’s active ownership model.

2012-10-08

Sweden: Blazing the Reform Trail - BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas research note describing Swedish public-sector reform, restructuring of public corporations and implications for productivity and public resources.

2001-06-21

Sweden's active ownership policy - Privatisation International

Article on the Swedish Government's active ownership approach, restructuring and portfolio governance.

2000

Welcome to the ways of the market - Financial Times

FT Inside Track article on Sweden's active management of state-owned companies and Dag Detter's role leading the efficiency drive.

1999-11-12