So in the UK the tories and media keep saying the national debt is the highest its been since the ww2 (which is true of pretty much any year since the 80s). And that we need to raise taxes, tighten our belts etc to pay back what we borrowed to get us thru the pandemic.

Now I know this kind of treating a countries finances like household finances and talking about national debt like its credit card debt is disingenuous and just used as a way to justify squeezing people more than they are already.

But what I don't know with enough authority to be able to talk to people about it is why this is the case? How is national debt different and wtf is it? Who do we owe it to and do we even need to pay it back etc?

Ofc I know the whole thing is bullshit anyway any only exists to preserve the current power structure but let's leave that for now.

Be good to hear thoughts from someone who knows things.

  • garbage [none/use name,he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    it's all just complete garbage. it's why america just invests in bombs. say you lent somebody some money right? and then they got an endless amount of guns. are you going to go collect on that debt?

    edit: bombs.

    • Pezevenk [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Yeah that's not how debt or imperialism works at all. Most of debt is owned to private actors and branches of government, not other states. Who are they gonna bomb, JP Morgan? The US has to and does pay up debt constantly. But also it accrues new debt via issuing bonds. It's not like owing to a loan shark where the loan shark bangs your door and tries to force you to pay, but if you've become like a mobster or something you can tell him to fuck off. The US constantly pays debt while also getting more in debt, it's what pretty much every country does, and if they default it is not at all good.