Currently, the federal debt held by the public is just over 70% of GDP, a level not seen since the early 1950’s. However, government debt soars by an average of 86% after severe financial crises, so the increase in the federal debt by 70% between 2008 and 2012 is not surprising.
此外，尽管赤字悲观派频发警告，但美国仍没有迫在眉睫的债务危机。最近，公共部门持有的联邦债务略高于GDP的70%，这是20世纪50年代初以来不曾有过的情况。尽管如此，平均而言政府债务会在严重金融危机后增加86%，因此2008—2012年联邦债务增加70%并不令人奇怪。