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Comment by SkyMarshal | Hacker News Reader

The notion this can go on indefinitely with no repercussions just bc the debt is denominated in our own currency doesn’t square with reality. Everything has a cost.

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The limits are the resources that are available for sale in your country - goods, labour, services. Ultimately this is limited by the available natural resources.

It’s all about the real economy - to the money issuer the debt is just an accounting detail.

The big cost of the national debt is that we have stuff now instead of later.

That’s only true of external debt. I.e. debts owed to other currency areas. Government debt is just the number of funds from the currency originator (central bank) to it’s distributor (treasury). Both institutions are a subject of the nation state, which is controlled by the government. So it’s not a “debt” in any colloquial sense of the term, neither is it an intergenerational transfer, since the souvereign nation state is an institution that both creates and enforces it’s own currency... which by definition implies it can create as much money (“debt”/“credit”) as it seems fit.

Yeah, "instead of later" would have been better constructed as "instead of waiting".

that cost would be inflation, but inflation is not even close to unreasonable levels. In fact, 2% ish inflation is healthy, so the "cost" is really more of a benefit at this point.

I often wonder how many people have thought about inflation as a tax on the poor. It hurts those with less discretionary funds the most. I also think it's ridiculous what the government does and does not include in it's inflation calculation(s).

Inflation is a tax on savers, not the poor.

Yes, I forgot savers/creditors.

However, it does affect those whose expenses rise and a) are on fixed income or b) don't get raises as quickly and frequently as the prices of everyday needs increase.

Inflation is not a tax...

Inflation also reduces the value of old debt in relation to current income.

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