Conventional wisdom attributes the massive public debts that many developed countries face today to a legacy of large government spending. In this context, Lane Kenworthy points to an insightful graphic that matches net government debt in 2010 to government expenditures (as a % of GDP) over the 1990-2010 period, and finds no co-relation whatsoever. 
His conclusion is spot on,
"A high level of government spending doesn’t necessarily produce heavy government debt. Nor does low spending guarantee low debt. Debt levels are a function of government expenditures and revenues and economic growth."
As Mark Thoma has written, the conservatives have tried to sell their "shrink the government" agenda by arguing that expenditure cuts are the only way out of the huge public debt. Raising taxes, the other side of the fiscal balance equation, is opposed on ideologically spurious supply-side (being on the other-side of the Laffer curve) arguments.
This conservative ideology has exercised a firm grip on politics in even many developing economies. The high rates of economic growth have been responsible for keeping the fiscal status of these governments on the balance.
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