In the years since the Great Recession, governments have taken on astronomical levels of debt to keep the illusion going, to ensure that their economies don’t collapse. But they are only going to prolong the agony.
According to a new study by the Institute of International Finance (via Bloomberg), global debt levels surged to a record $233 trillion in the third quarter of 2017. This is roughly $16 trillion higher than the same time in the previous year.
And it isn’t just the public sector taking on more debt. Thanks to record-low interest rates and easy money, the private sector has seen its debts spike to all-time highs, particularly in France, Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Switzerland.
The IIF has noted that the ratio of debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen about three percent to around 318 percent.
We are in for some scary times, especially as central banks begin to gradually raise interest rates.
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