THE INTERESTING QUESTION...:

A Short History of the National Debt: Deficits are nothing new. It's the trend that should worry us. (JOHN STEELE GORDON, 2/18/09, WSJ)

At 8.3% of GDP, this year's deficit is by far the largest since World War II. But the total debt is, as of now, still under 75% of GDP. It was almost 130% following World War II. (Japan's national debt right now is not far from 180% of that nation's GDP.)

...is how the world economy would cope without the safety of our debt to flee to.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 18, 2009 8:15 AM