The data point most utilized by those who espouse the idea of a healthy consumer is the household debtserviceratio (DSR), a metric that relates debt payments to disposable personal income.
Overall municipal debt is relatively low and debt burden (the ratio of how much is paid on debtservice relative to total budget) averages under 5% according to the most recent U.S. Census data.
The ratio of debt-service levels to exports, for example, is only around 6% in both countries, compared with 20-30% in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.