Burtonia Blogs

Thursday, October 15, 2009

A Legacy of Debt

The other day I was explaining the national debt to my children. I used the round figure of thirty thousand dollars for each U.S. citizen and explained that each of them had that figure hanging over their heads. I had to stop when my eight year old nearly came to tears.*


What was sadder and more poignant that that, however, was my oldest son's response (who is just starting to work and earn money). With bravery and confidence he announced that he thought he could pay his portion off. That tore at my heart even more than the younger one's fear.

* My wife and I often cackle over how many wonderful stories our kids will have of our soul-damaging parenting.

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posted by Jeff Burton at 10:09 AM

8 Comments:

  • I remember feeling VERY scared about the national debt when I was younger.
    Come to think of it, it's a fear that sticks...

    By Blogger erin, At October 15, 2009 2:04 PM  

  • That's a Dickensian story - the brave little lad squaring his shoulders and striding off into the world to pay for the debts of his parents.

    By Blogger K T Cat, At November 11, 2009 6:02 AM  

  • Don't worry about it. The national debt is a private sector asset. Your fears about it are based on a fallacy of composition.

    Here's a good place to start:

    http://www.moslereconomics.com/2009/08/03/7-deadly-innocent-frauds/

    By Blogger jimbo, At November 11, 2009 8:55 AM  

  • Hey Jimbo. Thanks for commenting. Think very, very hard about the following quote from your link:

    "Insolvency is never an issue with non convertible currency and floating exchange rates."

    Hope you are positioned for the logical consequence of this.

    By Blogger Jeff Burton, At November 11, 2009 9:14 AM  

  • ANd what eould that "logical consequence" be?

    By Blogger jimbo, At November 11, 2009 7:38 PM  

  • Inflation. And the dude you linked to can put Inflation in scare quotes all day long, but that doesn't change the damage it does. Government spending is a call on real resources, and that price is going to be paid one way or the other (taxes, inflation, or default).

    By Blogger Jeff Burton, At November 11, 2009 7:55 PM  

  • Jeff, it's high time you stopped using this "inflation" bogey man to scare your kids. After all, Argentina faced this problem and that turned out just swell.

    Err, that did turn out swell, didn't it?

    By Blogger K T Cat, At November 26, 2009 7:33 AM  

  • Off topic: Happy Thanksgiving, Jeff!

    By Blogger K T Cat, At November 26, 2009 7:36 AM  

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