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The problem isn't the concept of debt. The problem is people vote for the own interests ie. handouts and kicking the can down the road to the next generation.
by dismalaf 1y ago
The problem isn't the concept of debt. The problem is people vote for the own interests ie. handouts and kicking the can down the road to the next generation. You can have debt in a society without accumulating more in perpetuity. Debt is a money multiplier and fine, never paying it off is the issue.
- abdullahkhalids 1y agoIndeed, debt is simply a tool that can be used in the good or bad ways. I think we agree that this tool is sometimes used poorly in general by countries, often because voters/politicians don't listen to prescriptions by economists. What I am saying is that poor use of this tool leads to not only economic problems, but it is fundamentally at odds with democracy. If you vote to take on large debts that the future generation have to "pay" [1], you have taken away their democratic right, in a way that is distinct from other economic tools. The current generation can vote to have low taxes or high taxes, but that doesn't have much impact (modulo infrastructure maintenance) on future generations ability to exercise their democratic rights. Debt is unique in this regard. [1] Pay in quotes because future generations might pay directly via taxes, or indirectly via higher inflation or by working hard to make gdp larger etc.