Quite, hence “first order” - although every dollar paid back needs to be paid back to someone, and as the article points out, the majority of the debt is held b

Quite, hence “first order” - although every dollar paid back needs to be paid back to someone, and as the article points out, the majority of the debt is held by US taxpayers, so that money is still likely to be participating in the US economy, just flowing through different hands.