Federal Debt Crisis? It's Over (And Overblown), So Stay With Stocks

The Wall Street Journal placed a large, misleading graph on page 1 last Thursday (Oct 16). In "Congress Strikes a Debt Deal," the graph highlighted the 20-year, fourfold increase in U.S. government debt and the historically large growth over the past four years. While the numbers are correct, the WSJ's presentation is not. Here's what's wrong and how the interpretation changes when the data are viewed appropriately.