U.S. Public Debt vs. GDP

U.S. Public Debt vs. GDP (1929-2003)

Real World Data for Economics Principles

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The main sources of the U.S. public debt are: (1) Wars; (2) Recessions; (3) Tax-rate cuts.

It is more meaningful to measure the public debt in relation to an economy's GDP than to measure the public debt along.

The ratio of the public debt to GDP can reflect the ability of an economy to pay back the public debt.

Source:

Public Debt Data (1929 - 2003), Bureau of Public Debt, http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/.

Historical GDP Data (1929 - 2003), Bureau of Economic Analysis, http://www.bea.doc.gov/.

Data Showcase (Animated Data Presentation)