Debt Data
Source:
Federal Reserve Board, Flow of Funds
http://www.federalreserve.gov/datadownload/Download.aspx?rel=Z1&series=4ae60d75ab9a4da4e0cf4a6dea9ebb6f&filetype=spreadsheetml&label=include&layout=seriesrow&lastObs=100All the data plotted is un-adjusted source (not seasonally adjusted, contrary to what is usual in news releases).
Total US debt peaked at ~3.85 debt to GDP ratio in 2008. It began to decline about 6-9 months before the financial system froze and general market panic set in. Before the peak, the total debt was increasing at an exponential rate. Since that peak, the ratio has continued to decline; though the rate of decline has slowed considerably and may be nearing a bottom.
[plot of gdp, debt, and ratio]
The biggest debtors is the banking and financial businesses themselves. They take the most debt to leverage their capital to achieve reasonable returns on assets.
The second biggest debtors are consumers (from credit cards to mortgages).
Third on the list is all business.
Distant fourth and gaining fast is the Federal gov't.
Tied for irrelevancy is combined States's debts and money owed by the rest of the world.
[plot of debt ratio broken out by type]
Early 2000's supported double digit percent annual debt increases from almost every sector of economy.
Consumer debt was the first to begin deflating the economy starting its precipitous decline in summer of 2006.
While consumers were withdrawing for various reasons (but probably dominated by lack of credit worthiness and defaults), business hadn't gotten the siganl and was still ramping up borrowing/spending/investing from its 2002/3 recession.
Both financial and non-financial business see their peak debt growth in late 2007, then an inexorable decline through 2008 and 2009 as they respond to the collapse of demand. In 2nd quarter of 2009 financial business debt growth not only stopped, but has gone negative. Banks and finance companies began shedding debt and leverage. Survivors haven't stopped increasing capitalization ratios; many banks were shuttered, dropping the debt of the sector.
Most importantly, consumers have also never restarted their debt growth, even as real GDP has returned to growth (thus lowering the debt ratio). This continued negative debt rate gives lie to the trumpeted recovery of the housing and consumer markets. But with the debt growth trending from negative (reducing debt) to near 0 rate of change, we may truly be near the bottom. If housing prices are up its likely due to investors buying up rental property (as a non-financial business) and balance returning to number of houses for sale and credit worthy buyers.
Interestingly, the 3rd and 4th largest debtors are driving the financial markets, and the overall economy. Businesses are borrowing/investing. Obviously the Federal gov't is pulling in massive amounts of debt growth, but is slowly starting to trend back to a more balanced budget as tax receipts start to recover and bank failures recede.
State and local gov'ts are fairly conservative and tend to very small debt growth, and was trending to 0 debt growth before the financial crash was self evident. Rest of world debt seems to have wild swings. Both are pretty small players in the debt market and are not shown to improve readability.
[Annualized change in liabilities, unadjusted]
PS I seem to enjoy data crunching. I hope you find it intellectually stimulating and derive some usefulness from the data. If you have trouble reading the plots, I can make them bigger.