Chart: Who’s responsible for the debt crisis?
The chart above comes from Bloomberg Brief (Via Zerohedge):
The U.S. debt ceiling and impending fiscal cliff are likely to be important topics at tonight’s presidential debate.
If the government fails to reach a deal to avoid all or part of the $607 billion fiscal cliff by the end of this year, the U.S. economy is at risk of being thrust back into recession in the first half of next year.
A rapidly increasing U.S. debt load, approaching the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, amplifies potential downside risk. In 2011, failure to raise the debt ceiling led to the first ever downgrade of the U.S. by Standard & Poor’s.
This year, U.S. debt has increased by an average monthly 0.6 percent. If this trend persists, the current debt ceiling may be breached as soon as January, risking additional downgrades and substantial volatility in global financial markets.
Plenty of blame to go around — but not equal blame. You’ll notice the acceleration of debt under Republican control of all three branches. Then, you’ll notice the further uptick of the trajectory with Democratic control of congress; and once Barack Obama became president and Democrats controlled all three branches, well, there was takeoff.