The article shows how global and national economic shocks can be identified using a special framework. By studying the relationship between public debt and economic growth in multiple countries, the researchers found that global shocks account for a significant portion of output growth and debt changes. They used a method that considers how different countries affect each other to pinpoint these shocks. The study revealed that when economic growth is driven by government spending, the impact on debt is much higher compared to growth from other factors like technology improvements.