Unpopular opinion: The US debt spiral doesn’t matter nearly as much today as many people think it does. Even at these higher interest rates. Someday, it will matter very much. But we are YEARS away from that moment. For now, it is business—nay, borrowing—as usual. 🇺🇸

Replies (13)

That's actually a popular opinion. Wrong, but popular. 900B to 1 trillion per year in interest payments annually is a huge problem, and a reason why our country fracturing more and more. Instead of spending 1T on homeless or food, courts, whatever, it goes to pay other countries back, pensions, hedge funds, and more thst own our debts. The debt and debt service is exponemtial, and unsustainable, and we are all paying the inflation tax because of it.
Btcfeen 's avatar
Btcfeen 2 years ago
Someone going to have to buy those bonds tho *cough* fed
I’m not so sure. I’d argue that deficit spending and our debt based economy has always mattered and has ALREADY caused a disaster for our country. I’m a young person who’s looking at having to pay 8 times my annual salary just to get a decent home. Either way, even if the disaster isn’t here yet, we cannot be complacent and act as if business is as usual until the inevitable unraveling happens and we wake up living out the book “mandibles”. We have to act now to try and do harm reduction for ourselves and our communities.
Just to steelman, do you think people were saying a 10 trillion dollar debt was unsustainable as well? What about 15, 20, 25, 30? Eventually it will be, the point is, I don’t think anyone has a clue when the hammer will drop
If you made investment decisions thinking 10, 15, 20 trillion etc… were unsustainable and that a collapse/debt spiral would occur, it wouldn’t have worked out well for you. I agree that it is unsustainable over a long enough time period. But just like the gold bugs who have been shouting that the usd is about to collapse for decades now, so buy as much gold as you can, you’d be wrong. Knowing the direction is one thing, but in investing the timing is equally as important What’s that quote, the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent?
Jose Sammut's avatar
Jose Sammut 2 years ago
Most of that money goes back to the FED, and America is collecting more interest than it is paying out.
SatoshiSteve's avatar
SatoshiSteve 2 years ago
Strong agree, and I think there are very few bitcoiners aligned with us. It might matter in a decade, but so long as the us is the “best house in a bad neighborhood” our debt is going to be in demand. Give the landlords and 401k millionaires a scare in their assets and many will look for safety in 4-5% bonds, even if it doesn’t keep up with inflation.