The national debt is not a burden on future generations from "summary" of The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
The idea that the national debt represents a burden on future generations is deeply ingrained in our thinking about government finances. We tend to view it as money that will eventually have to be paid back by our children and grandchildren, creating a heavy weight on their shoulders. But this way of thinking is fundamentally flawed. When we talk about the national debt, we are really talking about the total amount of money that the government has borrowed over the years to cover its budget deficits. And when we say that this debt will have to be paid back by future generations, we are assuming that the government operates like a household or a business, with limited resources that must be carefully managed. But this analogy doesn't hold up when we consider the unique role of the government in a modern economy. Unlike a household or a business, the government has the power to create its own currency. This means that it can never "run out of money" in the same way that a household or a business can. When the government spends more money than it collects in taxes, it creates a deficit. This deficit is what we refer to as the national debt. But far from being a burden on future generations, this debt actually represents a surplus of financial assets in the economy. In other words, every dollar of debt held by the public is a dollar of savings for someone else. Furthermore, the government's ability to create money means that it can always meet its debt obligations. It can never be forced into bankruptcy or insolvency like a household or a business. This means that the national debt is not something that needs to be "paid back" in the traditional sense. In fact, the real burden on future generations comes not from the national debt itself, but from the choices that we make as a society. If we fail to invest in things like education, infrastructure, and healthcare, we are depriving future generations of the resources they need to thrive. It is these choices, not the national debt, that will determine the economic well-being of our children and grandchildren.
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