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C8 · THE DEBT AGAINST THE ECONOMY THAT CARRIES IT

Federal debt to GDP

122.59
STALE ROBUST DRS 95 quarterly as of 2026-01-01

This tile is stale: the value shown is the last one the source published, never a fabricated current number.

The full history

1966 high 132.66 · low 30.60 · now 122.59 · 8 recessions shaded 2026

How it is read

What it measures
the debt against the economy that carries it
Confidence
ROBUST : a primary official series, mechanically reported.
Reliability (DRS)
DRS 95: Official OMB/FRED computation, quarterly since 1966. The longer annual view (1947+) lives on the Long View, derived from the Treasury archive and GDP. Scored against a generation (30y): for a valuation ratio the level IS the signal; full history would compare against the pre-globalization economy (foreign earnings, intangibles; disclosed).

Where it comes from

FRED ↗ Every number on this site is reproducible from this primary source.

What it read at past stress points

Lehman, Sep 2008 67.28 ◆ WATCH
Q4-2018 selloff 105.05 ◆ WATCH
Curve inversion, Aug 2019 104.61 ◆ WATCH
COVID crash, Mar 2020 106.77 ◆ WATCH

Questions it helps answer

  • The Debt : Can the debt be carried, and who is carrying it?