Public debt of Selected Countries

Following the bailout of Greece and Ireland there has been talk about trouble in other European countries. I have taken a look at the public debt trends in these countries over the past 50 years and contrasted it to Canada and the United States. Public debt may be only one factor, but it a very important one. Here is what I found.

All those countries have experienced sharp increases in public debt over the past couple of years, but so has Canada and the United States of America. It is clear that Greece was already having significant problems similar to what Canada experienced in the early 1990's, but they have been unable to to anything about it. Ireland on the other hand made great progress over the past 15 or so years.