Uphill Battle

Come on baby

Come on, come on darlin'

Let me steal this moment from you now

--Kate Bush

Note the step change higher in country-level debt in 2008. That's the effect of socializing losses during the credit collapse. The chart shows that this was not just a US thing. It was a global phenomenon.

Note also that the US debt:GDP puts us in some shady company.

In 2008, private debt problems were handed to the countries. When countries have sovereign debt problems, who can they hand their problems to?