That's because the government's deficit is the people's surplus, by simple accounting identity. Paying off the debt would be catastrophic. Andrew Jackson did it

That's because the government's deficit is the people's surplus, by simple accounting identity. Paying off the debt would be catastrophic. Andrew Jackson did it, and 1 year later we had a financial crisis. Clinton gave us a surplus, which led to a financial crisis. It's very simple: either the government is in debt to the people, or the people are in debt to the governmet. The latter is a perverse situation. Please read about Modern Money Theory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDL4c8fMODk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDL4c8fMODk https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/opinion/deficit-tax-cuts-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/opinion/deficit-tax-cuts-...