There is one correct answer to this: collateral. Your mortgage is secured by the value of your house, which can be repossessed and sold to recoup loan proceeds.

There is one correct answer to this: collateral. Your mortgage is secured by the value of your house, which can be repossessed and sold to recoup loan proceeds. Of course, the housing market can decline, but it provides a very real backstop to your ability to repay that loan. You might be inconvenienced to sell your house, but ultimately it can be repaid relatively easily even if you default. Government debt on the other hand is uncollateralized and "secured" by two intangible things: tax receipts and central banks. Taxes are obviously a significant headwind for economic growth, and while necessary, should be as low as possible. So increasing taxes is not desirable. The second way is through inflation vis-a-vis Central Banks (so called debt monetization). Inflation is an implicit tax on everyone, and as we know, like taxes, too much inflation is a very bad thing. Governments have three ways to retire their debt, and all are pretty bad: 1) they can raise taxes which impedes growth and done in the extreme can cause a recession, which then reduces taxable income in a negative feedback loop 2) they can debase their currency causing inflation so that the money they have to pay back is worth less, which is also really bad when done excessively 3) or they can either default which unlike your house, is catastrophic because there is nothing for creditors to repossess And the above is without getting into the topics about utility: your house will provide utility for decades whereas most debt has been accumulated to fund social programs which need continuous funding, unlike your house which is funded once and amortized over decades.