There's really one big variable and it's interest rates. In the 70s stagflation era, we had very high interest rates. Government debt came with a heavy dose of

There's really one big variable and it's interest rates. In the 70s stagflation era, we had very high interest rates. Government debt came with a heavy dose of debt service. Currently rates are super low. We can accrue way more debt and still not be burdened with a lot of interest payments. Debt service as a percentage of GDP is about half of what it was in 1991 and trending downwards: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=HHdA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=HHdA