$247 Trillion and (Rapidly) Counting

The comments below are an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by McAlvany

These days, data for the global government finance bubble is not easily accessible, but there is plenty of evidence from which to draw conclusions.

The Institute of International Finance’s most recent data says global debt ended the first quarter at a record $247 trillion, or 318% of GDP. Even after a decade of historic credit inflation, global debt continues to expand at double-digit rates (11.1% year over year).

Global debt growth accelerated during the first quarter to $8 trillion, and surged $30 trillion over the past five quarters. Global debt has expanded $150 trillion, or 150%, over the past ten years.

US government debt surpassed 100% of GDP during the quarter. Japanese government debt-to-GDP ended the quarter at 224%, the euro area at 101%, the UK at 105% and the emerging markets to 48% of GDP.

To see non-productive US government debt inflate so quickly is troubling. Worse, extreme credit excess is systematic. This is catastrophic, all-encompassing ‘terminal phase’ excess. The first quarter saw emerging market debt rise by $2.5 trillion, or about 18% annualized, to a record $58.5 trillion. Emerging market non-financial corporate debt surged $1.5 trillion, or about 25% annualized, to $31.5 trillion, and now exceeds 94% of GDP. One big final blow-off setting the stage for crisis.