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I'm not on the hook for "my share" of the national debt. The government isn't going to knock on my door with a $62k tax bill next month. That's the government's
by freehunter 9y ago
I'm not on the hook for "my share" of the national debt. The government isn't going to knock on my door with a $62k tax bill next month. That's the government's debt, not mine.
If I spend all my money but still owe creditors more, that's what I'm on the hook for. That's real debt.
- abcdefghijklm 9y agoNo, they won't knock on your door with a tax bill. Because it's easier to tax you through inflation to finance that debt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage#Seigniorage_as_a_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage#Seigniorage_as_a_t... "Economists regard seigniorage as a form of inflation tax, redistributing real resources to the currency issuer. Issuing new currency, rather than collecting taxes paid out of the existing money stock, is then considered in effect a tax that falls on those who hold the existing currency."
- danblick 9y agoEh. But inflation only affects nominal assets like bonds and bank account balances. Real assets like houses or stocks (to a degree) would be expected to rise along with inflation. That makes inflation distortionary, not some ideal tax on wealth. Governments can't just run away with inflation as an alternative to tax.