Hope you’re not sick of the debt crisis

The IMF released a report today studying what happens to countries after breaching 100% of GDP. Of 22 cases in advanced economies with good data:

After 15 years, the median debt-to-GDP ratio is only about 10 percentage points lower than in the first year after debt rises above 100 percent.

The WSJ has the short version.

The IMF emphasizes that successful cases of debt reversals rely on long-term structural changes.

In a hyper-sensitive world where politicians have a shelf life measured in months, I’m not optimistic.