That paper value only helps if you can realize it by taxing it. Our debt is so high because there is a significant political faction dedicated to cutting taxes

That paper value only helps if you can realize it by taxing it. Our debt is so high because there is a significant political faction dedicated to cutting taxes by incurring debt for future generations to deal with. It’s easy to forget but the budget was balanced at the turn of the century, and successive rounds of tax cuts for the wealthiest people – the WSJ demographic and holders of most of those stocks – added trillions in debt. Those low tax rates are also factored into assumptions of those companies’ long term value so stock prices will decline if we do start taxing more.