America's National Debt

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America’s national debt has served as an issue for quite some time now. It is at the top of the priority list of our political leaders and is addressed very frequently. Maintaining the debt as well as trying to reduce it has become a job in itself. Fiscal policy has helped to determine how to manage the budget and what should be done with it. This nation has created processes to help keep the debt under control and even ask for aid from external forces in hopes to reduce it. Unquestionably, the nation’s debt is far too large to be able to pay it back in full. In fact, the national debt continues to grow and grow. This is due to the U.S. Treasury’s ability to refinance, which in Schiller’s words is, “the issuance of new debt in payment of…show more content…
According to Schiller, “when we borrow funds from abroad, we increase our ability to consumer, invest, and finance government activity” (Schiller 263). Many people are for external financing because it allows our real income to exceed the production possibilities curve. This meaning that the government can fund both public and private sectors without cutting back on funds for either. In opposition, there are people against external financing because it serves only as a temporary solution. Foreign investors will not hold onto their bonds forever because they will want to get cash from them in order to purchase more goods and services. This would not be beneficial to the U.S. because the external debt will have to be paid through real goods and…show more content…
in order to pay the debt. Social Security is tied to national debt because it is the U.S. Treasury’s largest creditor. It is also directly related to the issue of achieving an optimal mix of output. Schiller defines optimal mix of output as, “the most desirable combination of output attainable with existing resources, technology, and social values” (Schiller 262). The Social Security Trust Fund thrives off the baby boomers that were born after World War II. Now, these baby boomers are retiring and they will “throw the budget…out of whack” (Schiller 265). When this happens, there will be fewer workers per retiree and a primary source of government will disappear. We should be worried about this because the treasury will not easily be able to pay back the Social Security Trust Fund. As a result of this, Congress would have to raise taxes as well as make cuts in certain programs and as Schiller says, “none of these options is attractive” (Schiller 265). Schiller argues that the optimal mix of output is really what the debate about debt is over because we promote more public sector activity when we permit more deficit
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