The 10 Countries With the Most Debt The United States has the
largest debt in the world but other countries face more dire
situations By Danielle Kurtzleben January 28, 2011 RSS Feed
Print - The Republicans' Stunning Hypocrisy on the 'Fiscal
Cliff' - Congressional Brinkmanship Threatens Economic Recovery
- One Year Later, Some Upside to America's Debt Downgrade Even
accounting for inflation, the total U.S. public debt--the amount
of treasury securities held outside the government, plus federal
obligations for programs like Social Security--has increased
more than fourfold since 1990, when it stood at just over $3
trillion. [See the 10 states with the largest budget
shortfalls.] While the United States total public debt is indeed
the largest in the world, a broader context shows that other
countries face even more dire debt situations. One way to put
debt in perspective is to compare it to gross domestic product,
or GDP. The debt-to-GDP ratio is one primary indicator of a
country's economic health; a lower rat