AAAmerica: how the US compares with the world's other big debtors

AAAMERICA: The Economist has an interesting chart on the S&P downgrade, which compares the US with the world's other debtors. As they explain: "The maths underlying the downgrade of America's sovereign debt by Standard & Poor's may or may not have been lop-sided, but it is true that the country's debt burden does not compare well with those of other countries that still get AAA ratings. The attention of the markets has turned to France and, in particular, its banks (whose shares are now covered by a ban on short-selling). Yet France would appear to have more room for manoeuvre than America does."