There's a problem here. If public debt borrowed off seniors is paid by grandchildren of the fourth generation, it is because those grandchildren will not pay directly to set up the grand social infrastructure that their grandparents build today, brick by brick. That 5th generation will be protected by the US Military, and Universities and laws of common decency set up through borrowing from their grandsires. It is not as if one generation can develop the public wealth of the United States, or of my country Kenya, by itself. Their taxes will surely add to it, but they must pay their part for the initial costs of the "great and good" that they must surely inherit from those who live and invest before them - whether through direct taxes, or through lending to government. From this, you see that obviously, every generation owes it to itself. In the larger scope of things, Krugman is right. Basic assumption being that the deficit finances are invested well. If misused, then the future will be paying for a loss in the past.
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Perhaps Krugman’s Grandson Will Understand Government Debt
There's a problem here. If public debt borrowed off seniors is paid by grandchildren of the fourth generation, it is because those grandchildren will not pay directly to set up the grand social infrastructure that their grandparents build today, brick by brick. That 5th generation will be protected by the US Military, and Universities and laws of common decency set up through borrowing from their grandsires. It is not as if one generation can develop the public wealth of the United States, or of my country Kenya, by itself. Their taxes will surely add to it, but they must pay their part for the initial costs of the "great and good" that they must surely inherit from those who live and invest before them - whether through direct taxes, or through lending to government. From this, you see that obviously, every generation owes it to itself. In the larger scope of things, Krugman is right. Basic assumption being that the deficit finances are invested well. If misused, then the future will be paying for a loss in the past.