I’ve once heard that the USA owns most of its debt to itself, how is that possible? How can you owe debt to yourself?

Question

I’ve once heard that the USA owns most of its debt to itself, how is that possible? How can you owe debt to yourself?

In: 252

Answer 1

It means that private American citizens gave the US government money, and the US government promised those private citizens would get their money back.

That’s what bonds are, if you have ever heard of those.