Staggering debt is common among global economic powers: Why Washington’s $40 trillion debt is different

The United States’s national debt surpassed $40 trillion last month, marking a grim milestone for the richest country in the world.  But a stream of other major economies have a similar debt-to-GDP ratio, provoking the question: Does Washington’s debt crisis really matter? The total government gross debt-to-GDP ratio in the U.S. is 125.8%, according to…