America’s companies have binged on debt; a reckoning looms
The total debt of American non-financial corporations as a percentage of GDP has reached a record high of 73.3%
AMERICA’s companies have been powering ahead for years. Amid growing profits, the recession that began in 2007 seems an increasingly distant memory. Yet the situation has a dark side: companies have binged on debt. For now, as the good times have coincided with a period of record-low interest rates, markets have been untroubled. But a shock could put corporate America into trouble.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “On borrowed time”
Business March 10th 2018
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