To whom? When did we start keeping track? What does it practically mean as I image it will never be paid back?
In: Economics
They are saying if the country can act and spend like it has 31T today, in the future the country will generate more and then some, over a bunch of timelines and evaluations. So debt is borrowing against the future, its speculation. Stuff like we can pay a retiree not to work, because we predict the work of their child will be more productive. Like insurance, when they start out, they can’t cover a years worth of claims on day one, so if it happened they would borrow based on the idea they’re due to not get any more claims for the year.
The government borrows to get stuff done today, to realize future gains or productivity sooner. Our confidence in their ability to do that determines how much the value of their current money changes. Spending tomorrows money today always has some risk, and that’s the central banks rate, or risk calculation. America always pays its debts off the top, just occurs more with latter payments dates. The balance is off, but they always pull through, so they have a good rating. So other people are willing to risk buying more and more debt, or lending today’s money for the idea it will be worth more when you claim it.
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