Macroeconomics

The Ratio of Government Debt to GDP Since 1790

The U.S. federal government

debt held by the public, relative to the size of the U.S. economy, rises sharply during

wars and declines slowly during peacetime. A major exception is the period from

1980 to 1995, when the ratio of debt to GDP rose without the occurrence of a

major military conflict.

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Commerce, and T. S. Berry, “Production

and Population Since 1789,” Bostwick Paper No. 6, Richmond, 1988.