# White House Diary ![rw-book-cover](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IPD8gKwYL._SY160.jpg) ## Metadata - Author: [[Jimmy Carter]] - Full Title: White House Diary - Category: #books ## Highlights - The best yardstick for measuring the debt is to calculate the total national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product. The year I left office, this debt-to-GDP ratio was 32.5 percent, the lowest it has been at any time since World War II. Under Ronald Reagan it increased to 53.1 percent; after the end of George W. Bush’s term, the ratio was 83.4 percent. The accumulated debt for fiscal year 2009 is thirteen times greater than in 1980 and is projected to be 100 percent of GDP in 2011. ([Location 562](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003X27I3O&location=562))