IMO, the biggest problem with so much debt is the amount of interest embedded in the agreement of it all. Let's say that the average interest rate is 4% and that none of the debt is double counted, e.g. one debt leading back to another debt at a different interest rate. The total interest revenue on the debt is $161 billion dollars. Where does that money come from?! It needs to pop up out of thin air, like someone needs to print it.
If there is a question of why, I will explain. It is the same explanation I give to a banking specialist for my refusal to accept a savings account. Take a village of 100 people; the entire village has no money whatsoever, so they cannot trade or buy food or sell goods and services. A rich man lives on the top of a mountain and decides to lend a $100 to the entire village, which is $1/person, at an interest rate of 5%, and the entire debt is to be paid back in exactly 1 year.
For the duration of that year, villagers are beginning to buy and sell, the economy is created and is moving healthily, villagers are working, products and services are being created, sold, and consumed. At the end of the year, $105 need to be paid back, but the entire amount of money in the entire village adds up to just a $100. Where does that $5 come from?
Some villagers will have accumulated more than $1 and they will be able to pay back their debts and have some left over. But then also some villagers will have nothing. What do they lose? How do they fulfill their debts?
The entire system relies on the introduction of additional money from somewhere. If so, then that entity loses money. This system is deeply toxic and works contrary to the one who borrows. And once all is added up, the net result is all money is removed from the system. Losers lose big. Winners hit net zero eventually.
If there is a question of why, I will explain. It is the same explanation I give to a banking specialist for my refusal to accept a savings account. Take a village of 100 people; the entire village has no money whatsoever, so they cannot trade or buy food or sell goods and services. A rich man lives on the top of a mountain and decides to lend a $100 to the entire village, which is $1/person, at an interest rate of 5%, and the entire debt is to be paid back in exactly 1 year.
For the duration of that year, villagers are beginning to buy and sell, the economy is created and is moving healthily, villagers are working, products and services are being created, sold, and consumed. At the end of the year, $105 need to be paid back, but the entire amount of money in the entire village adds up to just a $100. Where does that $5 come from?
Some villagers will have accumulated more than $1 and they will be able to pay back their debts and have some left over. But then also some villagers will have nothing. What do they lose? How do they fulfill their debts?
The entire system relies on the introduction of additional money from somewhere. If so, then that entity loses money. This system is deeply toxic and works contrary to the one who borrows. And once all is added up, the net result is all money is removed from the system. Losers lose big. Winners hit net zero eventually.