Secondly, rising government debt has not correlated with higher interest rates over the past few decades. Since 1980, total U.S. debt as a share of GDP has surged from 156% to nearly 353%. However, economic growth and interest rates slowed during that period. Despite increasing debt, slower economic growth reflects the diversion of productive capital into non-productive debt service. In other words, debt is “deflationary” as it retards economic prosperity.