Henry acts so calmly all the time, it gets on my nerves. I keep thinking, “Can’t he, at least, show some emotion or something?”
The last time we talked, Henry said that, according to economists, the government “can continue to pile up debt without ever paying it off, because ‘we owe it to ourselves’”. But, he also said that “such pleasant dreams in the past have always been shattered by national insolvency or a runaway inflation” Ever since then, I had been trying to figure out what all that meant.
Surely, government money belongs to the people, and if government spends that money on the people, then we are just spending our own money. So, if we borrow our own money, then we owe it to ourselves. How does that cause insolvency or runaway inflation?
Now, the term, “insolvency”, means not having enough money to pay off existing debt. But, if it is true that you never have to pay off the debt, how can you ever become insolvent? The more I thought about it, the more confused I got. I found my thinking kept going around in circles.
Truth be told, that idea has never quite made complete sense to me in spite of the logic involved. But, I never paid much attention because I just assumed that the economists knew what they were talking about. And, as for inflation...well, that’s simple, I know that rising prices cause inflation...or is it the other way around?
I think I am going to avoid talking to Henry for a while.
The last time we talked, Henry said that, according to economists, the government “can continue to pile up debt without ever paying it off, because ‘we owe it to ourselves’”. But, he also said that “such pleasant dreams in the past have always been shattered by national insolvency or a runaway inflation” Ever since then, I had been trying to figure out what all that meant.
Surely, government money belongs to the people, and if government spends that money on the people, then we are just spending our own money. So, if we borrow our own money, then we owe it to ourselves. How does that cause insolvency or runaway inflation?
Now, the term, “insolvency”, means not having enough money to pay off existing debt. But, if it is true that you never have to pay off the debt, how can you ever become insolvent? The more I thought about it, the more confused I got. I found my thinking kept going around in circles.
Truth be told, that idea has never quite made complete sense to me in spite of the logic involved. But, I never paid much attention because I just assumed that the economists knew what they were talking about. And, as for inflation...well, that’s simple, I know that rising prices cause inflation...or is it the other way around?
I think I am going to avoid talking to Henry for a while.
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