Like so many things, it comes down to context, perspective and interpretation (which degree might be more useful in the pursuit of rational investment management: Economics, or English?). From a narrowly financial perspective, government debt is an asset class, albeit an asset class now offering vast potential for capital losses for the unwary. From a broader social perspective, government debt is taxation deferred, a burdensome claim on all our individual futures, a reflection of wealth to come being diverted from the private sector to the state and its putative political leaders. A simple 'heat map' of the world, in this case showing public debt per capita, reveals the fault lines quite explicitly: