That's not how it works at all though. It's not really something that is "paid off", it's a stock of bonds that eventually come due, and can be rolled over into

That's not how it works at all though. It's not really something that is "paid off", it's a stock of bonds that eventually come due, and can be rolled over into new bonds basically forever. The actual constraints to the issuance of the bonds or money is 1) available natural resources, 2) available labour resources, and 3) inflation (which is usually a result of money issuance or velocity outstripping (1) or (2)).