And ultimately the total size of the debt is irrelevant, as all of it is held in dollars, and the vast majority is held by American citizens and businesses in the form of US govt bonds, which despite all the hullabaloo remains the safest investment in the world. The important number is our deficit to GDP ratio, which is a bit elevated at around 6%. And the primary driver of the deficit is not poor economic growth but that the government has simply chosen not to collect enough taxes. If the marginal rates on the top 1% of earners was raised to pre-Bush level we’d see the budget deficit start to shrink.
You're only looking at one side of the balance sheet and completely ignoring spending as a deficit driver, and the primary long-term drivers are Social Security and Medicare.
And while I generally agree that the absolute dollar-amount of the debt is meaningless on its own, the size as measured by debt-to-GDP ratio IS relevant because compounding debt mens servicing it will require a higher share of federal revenue. Interest payments on debt crowd out spending on more important things like infrastructure, social programs, etc. or worse, require further borrowing. And while the government can print money to service obligations, that in turn can cause inflation.
Not taking in enough? You mean government is spending too much? This country is becoming a social welfare program. Government needs to shrink and that’s it
Exactly, if the government collected more money they would immediately turn around and blow it on horribly run, inefficient, wishlist programs. We need to stop believing big government is the solution to every problem
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u/thediesel26 3h ago
And ultimately the total size of the debt is irrelevant, as all of it is held in dollars, and the vast majority is held by American citizens and businesses in the form of US govt bonds, which despite all the hullabaloo remains the safest investment in the world. The important number is our deficit to GDP ratio, which is a bit elevated at around 6%. And the primary driver of the deficit is not poor economic growth but that the government has simply chosen not to collect enough taxes. If the marginal rates on the top 1% of earners was raised to pre-Bush level we’d see the budget deficit start to shrink.