There's no telling what the debt will be when you read this. But as of this writing--actually, as of the newspaper account that we're reading while writing--the national debt stood at $22.013 trillion.
Point zero one three. That last little bit there stands for a whole lot of money. It's $13 billion, with a B, and it's a rounding error on the national debt.
What would $13 billion get? All the money for a new border wall that the president wants--twice over. Or it would completely pay for all food assistance in this country for a couple of months. Or that fraction at the end could buy a whole new aircraft carrier, top of the line.
The national debt is a national shame, but it might one day prove a national disaster. There will come a point in which dollars won't be worth as much to investors. That's what usually happens when there is an over-abundance of anything. When that tipping point occurs (some of us thought it would be before now), the United States will get what's called inflation. And the average person will begin to spend a lot more money for the things they want, from cars to eggs.
Republicans have, at least in recent history, been the debt scolds. But my, how things change when a party goes from the back-bench wagging fingers to the controls of government. The national debt has grown to $22.013 trillion from $19.947 trillion since the day President Trump was inaugurated.
Another way to put that, as our Frank Lockwood did in the paper this past week: Every man, woman and child in the United States owes $67,000 as their part of the national debt. That's grown by $6,000 since Donald Trump became president.
During the campaign for president, Donald Trump told The Washington Post that "we've got to get rid" of the debt. And he could do it in eight years. The other day, he told the papers that boosting the military was a bigger priority than balancing the budget, "which I can always do at the right time." When will be the right time? Before or after inflation takes hold of the nation? Like a python.
Anybody who owns a credit card will tell you that it's hard to climb out of debt if you run a budget deficit every year. In fact, it might be impossible. The day George W. Bush left the White House, and before Obamacare came online, the debt stood at just over $10 trillion. We've doubled the amount on the credit card in one decade.
Anybody who owns a credit card will also tell you that it costs money to owe money. The interest on the national debt is $364 billion a year.
That would buy 28 aircraft carriers.
That's just the money we pay for the privilege of owing the money. We the People get nothing in return.
There are other problems:
Economists will tell you that the amount of debt as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product is rising, too. If things keep going in this direction, it won't be long until the percentage is as high as during the Second World War.
World War II is a good example of why we don't need a balanced budget amendment in the U.S. Constitution. There are times when it's in a country's best interest to go into debt. But right now the Nazis aren't machine-gunning their way across Europe. Instead, some leaders in this country are talking about Medicare-for-all and free college.
Economists will also tell you that back in the day, most of the debt we owed to ourselves as people bought bonds to safeguard against stock crashes. But these days a large chunk of the national debt is owed to Communist China. As we borrow ever more from other countries, perhaps hostile ones, we take an ever greater economic risk should they ever choose to stop lending us money. And even if they continue to buy our bonds, the interest on that debt amounts to a substantial transfer of income and wealth to countries abroad.
But the greatest danger of a runaway national debt--and the inflation that would follow it--may not be economic. It might be political. Hyperinflation has turned Venezuela into a basket case. At one point during the late crisis in Zimbabwe, prices doubled every 24 hours, and government was too frozen to help. The best example, however, might be from the aforementioned Germany in the 1930s. Which led to catastrophe for not just Germany but the world.
During the financial panic of 2008, the federal government came to the rescue as the lender of last resort. But what happens if, or rather when, the next panic occurs, and the government of the United States is so deeply in debt that it can't halt, or even stall, the panicky runs?
Here's a good first step: Revive the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles plan to balance the government's budget--politically, not constitutionally--and reduce spending while chipping away at the national debt. And right this economic ship at last. Because right now the USS Economy is taking on water. A lot of it every year. Every day. Every hour.
The stakes are great, the hour is late, and the dangers increase as we increase our debt. Here's hoping all those aboard this great ship, and especially those on the bridge, will wake up before it's too late.
Editorial on 02/17/2019