On: Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

[ot]

Comparing debt to GDP is very much mainstream economics, not MMT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-to-GDP_ratio

> is usually unable take their income streams

It takes a percentage of that, through taxes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_ta...

[coffeemug → ot]

Comparing debt to GDP is mainstream economics, but it's very much different from the analogy of homeowners debts and their salaries. The proper analogy there would be government revenues, not GDP.

[PaulDavisThe1st → coffeemug]

The government doesn't owe the debt, we the people do. We authorized & enabled the government to incur that debt on our behalf.

[hamilyon2 → PaulDavisThe1st]

This is pretty non-mainstream macroeconomic point of view. It did not correspond to reality when latest sovereign debt default occurred in Greece.

Then it was government, foreign banks who bought the debt and European Central Bank who was on the hook for restructuring, not citizens or general public.

[PaulDavisThe1st → hamilyon2]

Who was on the hook for the effects of the debt restructuring deal?