re: #268 engineer cat

These folks keep likening the federal debt and personal finances - that we need to be more like personal finances and curb the debt.

That, of course, ignores a few structural differences between governments and individuals.

Governments can increase taxes, in addition to curbing spending. Individuals can’t simply get pay raises when they like. They are constrained on that front. Banks don’t like defaults on their mortgages. They foreclose.

Governments, like the US, help support banking and the financial sector with liquidity.

They also ignore that government spending can help jumpstart the economy, particularly when building stuff for the long term (aka infrastructure).

And defaulting only increases costs into the long term with higher interest rates on repayments to reflect the risks of not repaying government debt.