this was obvious. so, i guess i have a question. is deficit spending/nationalized debt an actual problem? or just a hypothetical problem. i remember in the eighties and early nineties people were saying, as they say now (even obama, which is absurd given his actual policies) "we're leaving a terrible burden behind for our children," and so on. and yet the burden never seems actually to be imposed. alexander hamilton argued in favor of national debt for a variety of reasons; for one, when you sell bonds etc, you make people, esp rich people, dependent on the government and its finances; as it were, you assure their loyalty, even as you keep the government growing. and perhaps now this could be extended to international bondholders, including states like china; they have a stake in our economy in a way that keeps them roughly in line with our interests. now i have this vague feeling of impending doom as we blithely add trillions to the debt, with more and more trillions on the way. but maybe i'm just kind of confusing the principles of household budgeting with the principles of fiscal policy for a mega-state? so is deficit spending/debt an actual problem, or are there any limits to it as a long-term strategy etc?