But it has also shown that looking at the current levels of public debt might be insuﬃcient. In the wake of banking crises, and without credible mechanisms to restructure excessive private debt, governments might be forced to intervene. Private debt may then turn into public debt.
Global growth has averaged 3.5 per cent since 1980 and, in fact, if we take out the credit boom supported average growth of 4.5 per cent during the period 2000–2007 that led to global financial crisis, the global average falls to 3.2 per cent.