27 Oct The idea that it can be paid off is, in my opinion, the largest fallacy concerning the national debt. The truth is that it is currently impossible to pay off the debt since it is so huge

Hi Jessica, The idea that it can be paid off is, in my opinion, the largest fallacy concerning the national debt. The truth is that it is currently impossible to pay off the debt since it is so huge. Only defaulting on the obligation, which would have dire repercussions, would result in the debt being reduced. The idea that debt is an issue exclusively for the next generation is another misunderstanding. As a result of the government’s inability to invest in areas like infrastructure and education, the debt is actually an issue for everyone. Reply Jessica Frydenlund Friday I agree. There is no way it is possible for the debt to be paid off. Since the debt is already so big, why wouldn’t government invest in areas like infrastructure and education like you said. It doesn’t make sense to me. It is just a huge problem that continues to get worse.

Hello Violet, I think the writer raises some important points concerning the origins of these myths. It is true that a large portion of the population get their news from mainstream media sources, and that these sources frequently skim the surface of the research. But I also believe that there are other elements at work here. People might not comprehend debt or how it functions, for instance. Because people are unaware that the government may also borrow money from domestic sources, they may think that the entirety of the debt is owed to foreign nations. Furthermore, I believe there is a lot of false information concerning the government’s debt in circulation. It’s possible that people heard that the government owes trillions of dollars in debt and thought that all of that debt was due to other nations. The government’s debt is actually considerably more complicated than that. I don’t believe that mass media is the sole element causing these fallacies; I believe there are many others as well. Reply Violet Keresey Thursday Thank you for your input! You make a great point, and I definitely agree that mass media is not the only source of these misconceptions, though I do think it is responsible for a large amount of it. I think that the education system also plays a role here in not preparing kids for the pile of misinformation floating around the internet. Some of it probably comes from families who don’t understand the concept of the government’s debt and so young kids pick up their parents point of view on the subject without questioning it. You mentioned how people may just assume that the national debt is due to borrowing from foreign countries. I think that this does stem from false information circulating on the media. People take information they’ve read, such as the government importing or borrowing a lot from other nations, and they subconsciously or deliberately start to believe that this must be where most of the national debt comes from.