I think you should read up on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). There are quite a few people that would argue that printing money is not an issue as long as the deb

I think you should read up on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). There are quite a few people that would argue that printing money is not an issue as long as the debt is held in the same currency you're printing the money with. In theory, you could continue to print enough money to pay off the deficit. The argument against that is that printing money will cause inflation. While this is true to an extent, it is not always the case. Only about 3% of money in circulation is actually "cash", while the other 97% is credit or a balance in a bank's computer system. Cash + Credit = people's ability to spend. When credit dries up, people aren't able to spend as much. In order to keep the system running the fed can print money to counterbalance the reduction in credit. The amount of money in the system stays the same, it's just that there's more cash and less credit. This is done to ensure that people continue to spend and keep the wheels of the economy turning. Printing money is not always bad. Also, it's important to understand that while printing adds money to the system, taxes take money out of the system. The taxes the government collects don't actually get recirculated back into the economy. Remember, lots of taxes are paid electronically, which is just a debit on your bank account and a credit on the government's balance sheet. It's not like they're taking your physical dollar bills and spending it again by handing them back out. That money leaves the system and is effectively "destroyed". The government just goes ahead and prints the same amount of money again to balance everything out. A "balanced budget" means that the government spent or printed the same amount of money that they took out of the system with taxes. While most people would argue this is a good thing, you have to realize that if there's no change in the amount of money in the system, people's wages and wealth effectively remain the same. Inequality can quickly creep in as certain populations of the economy amass more and more wealth. With a balanced budget, it is always a zero-sum game, with a winner and a loser. By running a deficit (spending more than collecting in taxes), you're raising the amount of money in the system. A rising tide lifts all boats, and so more money in the system means more spending, more jobs, and people earn more. More people can build wealth and live a decent life. Of course, it's a balancing act though. But when done right, it can raise the living standards for all people in a nation. I'm no MMT expert, but here are some resources I've found to be helpful: How the economic machine works by Ray Dalio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0 Soft Currency Economics II (This introduced the idea behind MMT): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009XDGZLI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009XDGZLI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... Diagrams & Dollars: Modern Money Illustrated: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUF6POI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUF6POI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...