ilan

What ever happened to deleveraging? In the years since the 2008 global financial crisis, austerity and balance-sheet repair have been the watchwords of the global economy. And yet today, more than ever, debt is fueling concern about growth prospects worldwide.

The McKinsey Global Institute, in a study of post-crisis debt trends, notes that gross debt has increased about $60 trillion — or 75 percent of global GDP — since 2008. China's debt, for example, has increased fourfold since 2007, and its debt-to-GDP ratio is some 282 percent — higher than in many other major economies, including the United States.