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Worrying about debt is, in a very real way, worrying about power. Ancient Rome was weakened by its debts, as was the Soviet Union. In the case of the United States, concerns about the $35 trillion national debt — now proportionately higher than at any time in history, including a huge World War II spike — tends to lead to anxiety that the U.S.’s global influence will wane as it has a harder and harder time convincing bondholders (the hedge funds, banks, pensions, and foreign nations who buy our Treasuries) that it is the most financially sound country in the world. The day the debt becomes unmanageable is the day the bond markets enact a kind of financial revenge — and various grim scenarios ensue.
But the national debt has, for decades, been the big…
