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_bxg1

I was much more sad when I initially thought this was talking about the debts of individuals.

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Consumer debt is at all time high as well.

https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc.html

With inflation, GDP growth, and population growth, that is generally true at any time.

I briefly searched for inflation-adjusted debt per capita but couldn't find it.

There is the federal debt to GDP ratio, which is 105%. This is at least a 50-year high[0]. FRED's household debt to GDP data doesn't go back very far, but we can see it's off the highs off 2008[1]. (edit: added household debt to GDP)

[0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/gfdegdq188S

[1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N

> I briefly searched for inflation-adjusted debt per capita but couldn't find it

You're looking for household debt to GDP [1]. It is a real (versus nominal) statistic because it's a ratio between two nominal terms. It also communicates financial health better than a per-capita term, since it measures against production.

[1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N

I managed to find that - thanks!

A few other interesting angles: Household Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income[0] (10.3%, near 40-year lows), Consumer Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income[1] (5.9%, near 40-year average), Personal Saving Rate[2] (3.2%, near 50-year lows).

[0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP

[1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CDSP

[2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT

Part of the problem might be that it became harder for folks to obtain debt (mortgages specifically).

https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_total_debt

Private sector debt is at the highest level in recorded history. This is why the post 2008 recovery was so sluggish, since on average every unit of currency circulated has to pay for a fraction of the debt servicing cost. If it stops doing this a crisis will occur, which will either be contractionary or bubble financed by creating new debt to finance old debt. The national authority, with it’s monopoly on coercion can use it’s power to declare debts null and void (this happens all throughout history), create new currency free of debt (pure credit) and spend it into the economy. It can also create an artificial hyperinflation to reduce debt burdens, instate a new currency region altogether (money is simply legal tender subject to the laws the state dictates for it), etc

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