That doesn't mean the government can't default on its debts, it means that the new government would assume the debts of its predecessor. Context from Wikipedia:

That doesn't mean the government can't default on its debts, it means that the new government would assume the debts of its predecessor. Context from Wikipedia: > The states and the Confederation Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War, and how to repay those debts became a major issue of debate following the War. Some States paid off their war debts and others did not. Federal assumption of the states' war debts became a major issue in the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention. As for the rest of your comments, I used to like it when HackerNews was somewhat civil.