Great Graphic: British Debt over the Centuries

This Great Graphic was in the UK's Guardian newspaper and brought to our attention by Edward Harrison at Credit Writedowns.  It shows UK national debt as a percentage of GDP since the late 1600s.   That data itself is drawn from both government data and the work of Reinhart and Rugoff.  

A few things strike us about the chart.  First, the UK has not been out of debt for more than 300 years.  Even at the peak of its empire, the British government was a net debtor.  Second, debt levels in the late 1900s was at lower end of where it has been since he early 1700s.  Third, while debt burden has risen it remains below the average indebtedness it has experienced.  The current debt load is neither unprecedented nor particularly large.  Fourth, although it is not in the chart per se, the rising debt burden has been blunted by the drop in debt servicing costs.  Interest payments are the lowest share of UK GDP than in any time up to 2000.