Joe From Boston A very valid point.  But don't ignore the 2/3 that of the debt that is owned domestically, which is vulnerable to devaluation.  The hard right House Representatives are counting on that in their "negotiations" on the debt ceiling.  It remains to be seen how far their brinksmanship will go, but I don't feel good about being economically vulnerable to a group of power hungry election deniers.  And that is just on the home front.  Internationally, although foreigners own a lot of our debt, some have been reducing their share, as China has.  I wouldn't count on our debt to keep our rivals at bay - the debt is an attractive weakness for rivals to exploit. During World War 2, our debt spiked as we paid for the war efforts.  In the years following, the debt dropped precipitously, as we paid for the debt.  Nowadays, we finance wars with debt and never repay it.  In fact, we fought the frivolous Iraq war and simultaneously awarded tax cuts, as we did under George W Bush.  Our increasing debt may not be a problem at the moment, but as with any significant debt, it can handicap the borrower if their fortunes change.

Joe From Boston A very valid point.  But don't ignore the 2/3 that of the debt that is owned domestically, which is vulnerable to devaluation.  The hard right House Representatives are counting on that in their "negotiations" on the debt ceiling.  It remains to be seen how far their brinksmanship will go, but I don't feel good about being economically vulnerable to a group of power hungry election deniers.  And that is just on the home front.  Internationally, although foreigners own a lot of our debt, some have been reducing their share, as China has.  I wouldn't count on our debt to keep our rivals at bay - the debt is an attractive weakness for rivals to exploit. During World War 2, our debt spiked as we paid for the war efforts.  In the years following, the debt dropped precipitously, as we paid for the debt.  Nowadays, we finance wars with debt and never repay it.  In fact, we fought the frivolous Iraq war and simultaneously awarded tax cuts, as we did under George W Bush.  Our increasing debt may not be a problem at the moment, but as with any significant debt, it can handicap the borrower if their fortunes change.

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