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1. Will there ever come a point where the debts can't reasonably be repaid? 2. Will the people who are owed the money have the political power/influence to be

1. Will there ever come a point where the debts can't reasonably be repaid? 2. Will the people who are owed the money have the political power/influence to be able to force the issue? 3. The issue forced, will there be any feasible mechanism of paying it back other than raising taxes rapidly and horrifically? 4. Given that this is a public (United States) that is massively in debt (to the tune of nearly twice our annual GDP), will they be able to absorb that hit on top of everything else? I'm not sure I subscribe to the school of economics that says money is magical and debt never has to be paid back, but if I'm wrong in that, I'd love to here what part of this I misunderstand.

anders_p 3y ago
>...the school of economics that says money is magical and debt never has to be paid back Well...debt generally has to be paid back, but unlike people countries don't get old and retire. Countries have an unending supply of new taxpayers being born every year. There's no hard limit to how much a country can renew and restructure its debts. Only the market's belief in a country's future economic prospects affect the price of rolling the debts forward, through the issuing of new state-backed bonds.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  > Well...debt generally has to be paid back, but unlike people countries don't get old and retire. They actually do. Japan is currently starting to retire now... to the point that there are fewer of them today than there were last year. The demographic implosion. We're not that far behind them. > Countries have an unending supply of new taxpayers being born every year. This seems unlikely. In every western nation on Planet Earth, the fertility rate is going down, quite quickly, with no indication that it will plateau. There is no indication of how circumstances would have to change for it to rebound. There may be none, but if they are, they're likely the sort of circumstances unlikely to be found within the conditions we're discussing (improving economy, higher wages, etc). There is a finite supply of new taxpayers, a relatively small one, and there is no evidence that it is unending. > There's no hard limit to how much a country can renew and restructure its debts. Like when Zimbabwe just prints new money with more zeroes on it? We'll all be starving quadrillionaires? Sure, games can be played. But eventually people catch on that it's all a game, and they weren't ever going to win it. And then they stop playing... not because they don't want to, but because they can't anymore. > Only the market's belief You're using the word "belief". Is this a joke? Belief is an important part of scams and cons. Is this a big con game? > through the issuing of new state-backed bonds. Who would ever buy another treasury in the circumstances we are talking about? I just asked what would happen when the government can't make good on the already extant treasury notes. Saying "they'll sell more treasuries to pay those back"... am I just too dumb to get the joke and everyone here on Hackernews is laughing at me?

anders_p 3y ago

>...the school of economics that says money is magical and debt never has to be paid back Well...debt generally has to be paid back, but unlike people countries don't get old and retire. Countries have an unending supply of new taxpayers being born every year. There's no hard limit to how much a country can renew and restructure its debts. Only the market's belief in a country's future economic prospects affect the price of rolling the debts forward, through the issuing of new state-backed bonds.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
> Well...debt generally has to be paid back, but unlike people countries don't get old and retire. They actually do. Japan is currently starting to retire now... to the point that there are fewer of them today than there were last year. The demographic implosion. We're not that far behind them. > Countries have an unending supply of new taxpayers being born every year. This seems unlikely. In every western nation on Planet Earth, the fertility rate is going down, quite quickly, with no indication that it will plateau. There is no indication of how circumstances would have to change for it to rebound. There may be none, but if they are, they're likely the sort of circumstances unlikely to be found within the conditions we're discussing (improving economy, higher wages, etc). There is a finite supply of new taxpayers, a relatively small one, and there is no evidence that it is unending. > There's no hard limit to how much a country can renew and restructure its debts. Like when Zimbabwe just prints new money with more zeroes on it? We'll all be starving quadrillionaires? Sure, games can be played. But eventually people catch on that it's all a game, and they weren't ever going to win it. And then they stop playing... not because they don't want to, but because they can't anymore. > Only the market's belief You're using the word "belief". Is this a joke? Belief is an important part of scams and cons. Is this a big con game? > through the issuing of new state-backed bonds. Who would ever buy another treasury in the circumstances we are talking about? I just asked what would happen when the government can't make good on the already extant treasury notes. Saying "they'll sell more treasuries to pay those back"... am I just too dumb to get the joke and everyone here on Hackernews is laughing at me?