Quote from gnome:
You don't think that credit expansion was an attempt to reignite the economy? Or, the ratio is high because the denominator (GDP) shrank so much?
I don't know what it means, I was just doing some math.
In 1929, GDP was 101444 M, from the chart Debt/GDP was about 175%
Total Debt/101,444 = 1.75
Total Debt = 177527 M
In 1933, GDP shrunk to 68,337, Debt/GDP was 265%
Total Debt/68337 = 2.65
Total Debt = 181093 M
Not a big difference at all - the steep rise is due to sharp decrease of GDP.
This actually makes the angle of ascent since the early 80's more terrifying - it is rising because debt is rising much, much faster than GDP.
I wish this chart went back a little further to see what it looked like leading up to 1929.