11  According to the OECD Economic Outlook published in November 2009 (No. 86), the ratio of government debt to GDP projected for 2009 was 189.3 percent in Japan, far exceeding that of the United States (83.9 percent), the United Kingdom (71.0 percent), and Greece (114.9 percent), with the average of the OECD countries at 90.0 percent.
Over the years, we have had to cope with the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the aftermath of the events of 11September 2001, the jump in oil prices to $ per barrel in 2008, rising prices of food and commodities, and then of course the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.