Ngram: Debt-to-GDP

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After the initial burst of interest in credit and economic growth in the 1950s (see previous post) there was apparently little concern about the debt that results from the use of credit, until the 1980s.

The US changed from using GNP to using GDP in 1991.  Perhaps this accounts for the orange and green peaks rising a little before the red and blue; and also for the orange and green dying out early, as red and blue rose a good deal higher.

Another detail: The two versions of GNP usage peak at about the same time. And people preferred to use "debt to GNP" without dashes, about twice as much.

With the two versions of GDP usage, the increase got much higher as time went on because the relation between debt and GDP was thought more and more important as time went on.

But "debt to GDP" (no dashes) peaked in 2004 and fell rapidly while "debt-to-GDP" (with dashes) continued to rise, if slowly. It looks like there was a sudden preference for dashes!