Indications 2.8: Debt, Denial, and Modern Monetary Theory

According to the IMF, total debt worldwide—including government, consumer, financial, and non-financial sources—now amounts to $185 trillion, or some 2.25 times the size of global GDP. A generation ago, the ratio stood at just 1:1. But despite this rapid rise in leverage, the traditional dangers of government debt in particular—soaring inflation and interest rates—have yet to materialize.

Should the evidence of recent decades force experts to reconsider their basic monetary and fiscal assumptions? Have policymakers and the private sector alike reached a new equilibrium of debt tolerance? Or are the established laws of economic gravity still intact—and ignored at our peril?

Chief Economist Bart van Ark surveys the evidence with the help of an expert panel.

Indications 2.8 Resources

• Window On the World’s Debt (full webcast on-demand)
• Window On Latin America (free registration for next webcast on 4/24)