en
Thinking Complexity
Susan Patch
01 Jun 2016, 12:49 AM
Chapters 2 › The exponential growth trap:
State debt and doubling time
View instructions
Hide instructions
State debt and doubling time
In October 2015, Bloomberg.com published an alarming article about France’s growing debt entitled “Government Debt in France and Italy Swells to Euro-Era Highs”. France’s national debt at the end of 2015 was 2096.9 billion euros. It had grown at an average rate of 5.76% since 1995. Based on these numbers, how long will France’s national debt take to double in size?
Hint: Use the formula for doubling time.
A worked solution is in the references section.
How long will it take for France’s national debt to double in size?
0
0
Given the 5.76% average growth rate, and using the approximation formula for doubling time, it would take:
70/5.76% years
or approximately 12.15 years for France's national debt to double in size, assuming that the national debt continues to grow at the same average growth rate and that no other factors have a significant impact.
