I have to admit I don't get national debt. Okay, the USA has it on a much larger scale, but most if not all countries I know have borrowed multiple millions to fund themselves. I get WHY they do it (if I build a school with borrowed money now, I can tax higher paid citizens down the line), but the fact that seemingly everyone does it makes it sound...weird, to say the least. From whom are we borrowing if everyone does it? Are we all borrowing from each other somehow?
After the 2008 crash I really wanted to get to know the market, but it's just...seemingly impossible to grasp. That is: I understood every step or reasoning...but by the time I (thought I) had all the pieces, it's like the first one had escaped my grasp, or didn't fit in what I learned earlier.
But for the topic at hand: it should be frightening. Mostly to the USA, but to the rest of the world as well. Like...the monthly interest on all that debt is so high it dwarves the costs of education, health and even the army. I thought combined, but chatgpt says otherwise:
ItemApproximate amountInterest on national debt$96–117 billion per month
National defense, including the Armyroughly $80–85 billion per month
Medicare aloneroughly $80 billion per month
Medicaidroughly $40–60 billion per month
Federal Department of Educationroughly $3 billion per month
Still...that's insanity. Worse is that you can't really climb down. With those interest rates, paying back the main sum is like nibbling at infinity. And the only reason the US can keep borrowing money to keep themselves afloat is because they do pay. Because for all the tough talk and postering, missing even a single payment will decrease the credibility of the dollar, which is a massive death spiral.
