The Debt to GDP Ratio is Not About to Reach a Post War High

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The NYT attributed an inaccurate assertion to the Treasury that: "debt as a percentage of G.D.P. is rising and nearing a postwar high." Even counting the debt held by trust funds, the debt to GDP ratio is only around 70 percent of GDP. It was near 120 percent of GDP ($18 trillion in the current economy) immediately after World War II.

--Dean Baker

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