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Charles Wukasch's avatar

"Andrew Jackson wasn't the first person to conflate the economics of a household with the economics of a nation." I know little about economics, not having had a class in economics since high school in 1958 (!). However, I do know that the fundamental difference between national debt and individual debt is that countries can print money; individuals can't (unless they want to go to prison).

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Christopher Shafik's avatar

Okay so question,

While I understand comparing a nation’s debt to household debt isn’t comparable, can we know when the debt held by the federal government to itself and to foreign entities is too much? I know Japan by comparison has a debt of about 226% of GDP, the highest of amongst developed nations.

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H. W. Brands's avatar

We will know when investors stop buying US bonds. At that point the market will have spoken.

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