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It's necessary to understand the true nature of the national debt before that question can be answered.
https://twitter.com/Truedeviant324/status/1327023532480540673
It's necessary to understand the true nature of the national debt before that question can be answered.
https://twitter.com/Truedeviant324/status/1327023532480540673
We (people who *can't* create the dollar) have checking accounts or savings accounts at our local bank. The former we can spend right away but earns no interest (is liquid). The latter we earn interest on but must transfer back to checking before its spent (is less liquid).
A US treasury bond is exactly equivalent to a savings account at the central bank. A bank's bank account at the central bank, called "reserves," is exactly equivalent to a checking account.
You can only purchase a bond from the government with existing money (reserves, via your bank). Money in reserves is transferred to a treasury account, *exactly* like opening a savings account with the money from your checking account.
When you redeem or cash in your bond (the government buys it back), the process is reversed: the money in that treasury account is transferred back to your (bank's) reserve account. *exactly* equivalent to closing that savings account.
Once you no longer own your bond, the only thing that changes is you no longer have a regular stream of interest income.
So, does the United States government "owe" the national debt to someone? Sure. To each individual bond holder. If our economic system is to remain viable, the government would NEVER default on those obligations. https://twitter.com/Truedeviant324/status/1327023532480540673?s=20
The only way the government could declare itself "debt free" is by purchasing every outstanding bond. As above, this is done by simply closing out all those treasury accounts and moving the funds back to reserve accounts – of the exact same amount.
Paying off the national debt in this way (purchasing all bonds) would be no more harmful to the United States government, than if your bank closed out every savings account they had and moved the funds back to checking accounts. https://citizensmedia.tv/mmt-securitization
That's the easy way. They could also do it the messy way. Regardless, paying off the national debt is not necessary to (directly) improve the economic condition of the United States. https://citizensmedia.tv/mmt-pay-back-debt
Since all federal spending is money creation and all federal revenue is money destruction (without exception), it means the revenue from bond sales (and taxation) are not (and can't be) used to "pay for stuff." It must be for some other purpose. https://twitter.com/ActivistMMT/status/1327016033761288192
We certainly don't need to borrow from China or anyone else. (What does it even mean for the one and only entity on Earth that can create the dollar, to borrow the thing that only it can create?) https://citizensmedia.tv/mmt-china
The idea that the national debt should be feared is nothing more than scaremongering – scaremongering that's been going on for a long, long time. https://citizensmedia.tv/mmt-debt-scaremongering
The size of the national debt is never a problem, in and of itself. The inequality of that debt (wealth inequality) is always a problem. And as far as the interest on the national debt... https://twitter.com/ActivistMMT/status/1326936371001495553
Here is an overview of the (reality of the) national debt. It's simply not what most think it is. It is definitely not "a debt" in the sense that the term means to you and me. There's more to say, but hopefully that's a good start.
, 
, and #MMT 
https://citizensmedia.tv/mmt-national-debt
