Graph #1: Debt at the Peak

A comparison of private debt in recent years and at the time of the Great Depression:Blue = Great Depression years; peak year 1929.Red = Recent years; peak year 2008.Debt is shown relative to the size of the peak year debt, for three years before and after the peak.In the years just before the peak, the red line goes up faster than the blue. We were accumulating debt faster in recent years, than they were in the late 1920s.In the years just after the peak, the blue line goes down faster than the red. They were getting rid of debt faster in the early 1930s, faster than we are today.If excessive private debt is the cause of our economic troubles, then we are not doing a good job solving the problem; they did better after the Great Depression.The last years shown on the graph are 1932 (blue) and 2011 (red). During the Great Depression, private debt continued to decline for three years after the last year shown. After the current crisis, the decline of private debt appears to have stopped already.If excessive private debt is the problem, we are not dealing with the problem. Depression-era numbers : "Private" debt (Series X398) and "Total" debt (Series X393) from Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.Current-era numbers: Total debt (TCMDO) and Non-Federal debt (TCMDO less FGTCMDODNS) from FRED.This Google Drive spreadsheet contains graph and data.