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Yes, the total amount may go up in nominal terms, but it's not going up in real terms if inflation is eroding it faster than new debt is being issued. If the va
by CydeWeys 4y ago
Yes, the total amount may go up in nominal terms, but it's not going up in real terms if inflation is eroding it faster than new debt is being issued. If the value of the dollar halves in a decade but the debt only goes up to, say, $50T, then the total national debt in real terms has gone down significantly.
- bern4444 4y ago> if inflation is eroding it faster than new debt is being issued. I would be interested to know of a time when inflation was higher than the rate of new debt being issues in the US. Maybe in the 70s when inflation hit record highs but interest rates also hit record highs at that time.