What about interest though ? Interest that apparently keeps compounding (exponentially ?) because of the size of debt.
Developped countries have never been so deep in debt in a time of peace apparently. With national debts nearing 100%, downpayment is something like 3-4% GDP (7% for Greece). I've heard the figure of 12 billion euros each year for Belgium (only 10-11 million inhabitants). The total amount of money by tax payers over the decades must be absolutely collosal.
Didn't governments of the past ever pay back the loans they took out ?! With talk of austerity measures and the "little" but painful cuts being done left and right it seems kind of absurd to ignore what is probably the number one budget heading in many places.
Well, there are two things to keep in mind. For instance, right now, the USD is so great right now, that we're actually lending money at BELOW inflation rates much of the time, and then you have a constantly increasing GDP, which brings in more and more money, which is how you cover that. We aren't seeing an exponential increase in the percentage of GDP going to cover debt, so it isn't an actual problem.
National debts of 100% is a problem, but not actually as big as it sounds, and luckily not as common as you would think. I think the US is sitting around 75% right now, which is certainly quite high, but completely manageable. And there have been times when governments have completely paid off the debt, but it is actually generally seen as a bad thing, and maintaining debt is extremely useful for a country, even if we shouldn't be at where we are (I would be much happier to see the US at 30% of GDP than the completely absurd levels we're at. Austerity cuts are being made so that deficits (which grow debt) can be cut, hopefully become surplusses, and that the debt can slowly be whittled down. This isn't people ignoring the debt, it is them thinking about how to manage it.
