The global debt has ballooned to such an extent that the record huge bubble has got out of control. According to the IMF estimates, nowadays the total global debt more than doubles the world’s gross domestic product and equals a whopping $188 trillion. The private sector accounts for the lion’s share that is two thirds of the whole amount. Both public and private debt has been swelling in developed countries and emerging markets. Remarkably, a big share of the debt has not been paid off since the 2008 world’s financial crisis when the private sector urgently needed a government’s bailout. “The bottom line is that high debt burdens have left many governments, companies, and households vulnerable to a sudden tightening of financial conditions,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech at the XXth Annual Research Conference on debt in Washington. “In low-income countries, high debt burdens could jeopardize development goals as governments spend more on debt service and less on infrastructure, health, and education,” she warned.

Some experts think that ex-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is to blame for the ongoing malaise. He was at the helm of the US central bank from 2006 until 2014. He forged ahead with the idea of unlimited borrowings without paying for debt service. Ben Bernanke used to experiment with zero interest rates and a QE program in Japan. Though such an accommodative monetary policy failed in Japan, he decided to introduce this method in the US and Europe.