This creates a more volatile base for our economy because companies' debt in relation to equity gets skewed.
Japan has been able to finance a much higher government debt (in relation to its GDP) without difficulty.
They neglected to report that we included both median and average estimates for growth, at various levels of debt in relation to economic output, going back to 1800.
The second comparison — the open circles — looks at the short-term bank debt in relation to each country's national debt.
But do we need to have a surplus, or would it be adequate (as Labour proposes) just to start reducing the national debt in relation to GDP?
Households have been reducing their debt in relation to their incomes since the 2008 financial crisis, by paying down mortgages and declining to borrow more.
Cable said: "In the next few years we are going to get back to high levels of household debt in relation to income, significantly higher in the UK than in almost any other country.
It would also send Italy's debt ratio – the size of the country's public debt in relation to the size of its economy – up from just over 130% of GDP to around 150% of GDP.
There's an enormous stock of personal debt in relation to people's earnings, which is now going to have to be replaced by a build up of personal savings.
The business secretary also warned that household debt in relation to income is set to become significantly higher in the UK than almost anywhere else, and contains serious dangers that represent "a real, real, real worry" for policymakers and homeowners.
