" Most Americans believe the 2008-2011 financial crisis solved our debt problem…" By Porter Stansberry

"Most Americans believe the 2008-2011 financial crisis solved our debt problem…

We all know someone who defaulted on his mortgage and hasn’t been able to borrow money since. Most of us believe that solved the problem… that everything is fine now. Well, except for the government’s debt… But that’s a different kind of problem.

But the facts tell a different story.

U.S. total debt (household, corporate, and government) hasn’t declined since 2008.
Federal debt only declined in one quarter (first quarter 2017, -2.6%) since 2008. Household debt only declined twice (2010, 2011 by less than 1%). And corporate debt has declined twice, too (-4% in 2009, less than 1% in 2010).
Total debt is currently growing at almost 4% a year. Since 2008 our economy has grown on average at 2.9% a year. That means, once again, our debts are growing much faster than our economy.
Our economy did not deleverage. The “normal” methods of reducing our country’s debt burdens did not work.

Economists will be quick to tell you that this doesn’t really matter because debt service burdens fell. That has allowed disposable income to rise and led to “solid” economic growth that, eventually, will allow these debts to be repaid.

Please remember this idea: It is because debt service obligations have fallen (relative to GDP) that our economy recovered, not because of any reduction in debt load."

By Porter Stansberry

I like this except from this article. Worth thinking about.