The situation isn't too dire yet. As you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_debt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_debt, as a

The situation isn't too dire yet. As you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_debt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_debt, as a percentage of GDP, US public debt is still comparable to or below many other first-world countries. But you're absolutely right about unfunded entitlements. If nothing is done, we'll be soon be on par with Zimbabwe, and it's uncertain whether anything non-horrific can be done. Those unfunded entitlements are not just an accounting problem -- they're real material wealth that people are counting on for their retirement that doesn't exist. The obvious solution is to raise the retirement age, but you can only raise it so far before people are too old to be physically capable of work. If any tightrope does exist between hyperinflation and octogenarians starving in the streets, I question whether the political will exists to walk it.