Level of US Government Debt

This post is about the level of US federal debt, but the level of debt globally is not restricted to the US. In addition to the US these countries all have a Debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio over 100%: Japan, Singapore, Italy, France, Spain, and Canada among many other countries. What is astonishing about the level of US debt though is how quickly the level of debt rose, and the US went from being one of the most fiscally responsible governments to being dependent on debt to close its budget gaps.