The debtto-GDP ratio fell in the wake of the inflation of World War II and its aftermath, which inflated away the real burden of debt. The updrift in the ratio, however, shortly resumed. As I noted earlier, the trend toward intra-country dispersion is likely occurring not only in the United States but in other countries as well.
2  BIS Review 38/2009  Internationally though, the convergence has not really been physical but only intellectual, with the creation of the Joint Forum. The Joint Forum is composed of international financial supervisory organizations, namely, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and the IAIS.