While the crisis abruptly halted the growth of credit in many economies, the process of deleveraging is just starting. As of the second quarter of 2009, we find that total debt relative to GDP had fallen, and only slightly, in just a handful of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. One reason for the small overall deleveraging to date has been the increase in government debt, which has offset declines in household sector debt. The current projections for rising government debt in some countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, may preclude any significant deleveraging of the total economy over the next few years.