Sam Gibbons: “Mr. Speaker, I think the most interesting thing that we ought to be discussing here is how do you measure this debt and…”

“Mr. Speaker, I think the most interesting thing that we ought to be discussing here is how do you measure this debt and what impact does it have upon our society and our economy? I think the best measure of this debt is the ratio of the debt to the gross domestic product of this country. If you look at this debt on a historical basis, in 1940 it was about at the same place it is today as far as its ratio to gross domestic product. During World War II it rose to about 125 percent of gross domestic product. Truly a remarkable feat, considering the size of the war effort, to keep it at that low a growth. From 1945 until 1981, under Republican or Democratic Presidents, the debt to gross domestic product came down in almost a straight line fashion until it hit its low point in 1981, when it was at about 31 percent of gross domestic product. Since that time... the debt has risen from 31 percent to around 70 percent of our gross domestic product. That measures our ability to repay it.”