Introduction:

Eight years into the financial crisis, politicians and central bankers continue to "kick the can down the road." They pursue policies designed to postpone the day of reckoning and avoid telling the public the truth. A sizeable part of the promises they have made will not be fulfilled.

Since 1980, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) the combined debt of governments, private households and non-financial companies in North America, Europe, Australia and Japan rose from 160% of GDP to 350%. In real terms, non-financial corporations have accumulated more than three times the debt they had in 1980, governments more than four times - and private households more than six times.