At the start of the COVID-19 economic shutdown, the Congressional Budget Office projected the federal debt-to-GDP ratio would reach 108% by the end of 2021, an increase of 26 percentage points from their previous projection. The federal debt-to- GDP ratio reached a record 119.1 percent in early 1946, following World War II, but then quickly fell, reaching 31.1 percent in January 1981 45 45 45 45 45 5 45 45A 454 25 a. What lesson might the record-level debt and subsequent rapid decline following World War II hold for current debt projections? That in the context of an expanding economy, the debt will tend to become a smaller problem That if the federal government is to get its fiscal bouse in order, it will have to cut its spending dramatically That the current debt would not be a problem if it were incurred during war None. The two periods are so different that any effort to compare them will be misleading. b. What are the primary factors that will determine whether debt snowballs out of control or slowly melts? The absolute size of the debt. The nominal value of debt repayments. Whether federal deficits are incurred to finance economically valuable investments, e.g., infrastructure. How the growth rate of real GDP compares with interest rates,