3 ms·

So then is the public debt in a large part just a complex accounting system the government uses to manage its business? At least in the case of the US where mos

So then is the public debt in a large part just a complex accounting system the government uses to manage its business? At least in the case of the US where most of it is held by the US? Genuinely curious, every time I think about this it feels like turtles all the way down.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
You think of US as a monolithic entity and that really isn't true. There are lots of agencies with lots of employees and future obligations; they all have their own budgets and "books"; congress doesn't like bailing out an agency due to them thinking they have the whole US budget to spend. Maybe if we bothered to just force all public employees into 401Ks, we could summarize it as mostly SSI and Medicare future needs (though we are increasingly hitting pay as you go).