Pick a country, any country, at any point in time, with a high debt-to-GDP ratio. That ratio will be strongly correlated with low GDP growth in the last three years, not the next:
That is from Arindrajit Dube, and there is more at the link. It appears that low growth causes high debt, moreso than the other way around.
Update: Everybody and their mother has been sharing this graph. It is apparently important. There are also plenty of interesting nuggets at those links.