[justsomedude43]

How can there be no capital left to consume if the borrowed money has no support to back it up? You're saying we're borrowing from future generations which is like saying we're borrowing money from air. If we're borrowing money from non-existent source then there is an endless supply of the money, isn't there?

And if there's no plan to pay it off, then why not just write it off? It makes no difference, the whole effect is psychological.

[nybble41]

Money per se is irrelevant; it's what you can buy with it that counts. Normally, to get money you have to produce something; when you spend that money you're claiming your share of what has been produced. If you buy on credit (with intent to repay) then you're committing your own future production capacity towards paying off the loan, with interest. If we want to hand our descendents a world at least as good as the one we received from our ancestors then we need to produce at least as much as we consume—more, actually, since some of that production will need to be dedicated toward the preservation and maintenance of capital (production capacity). If we borrow without any intention of ever paying down that debt, or (equivalently) introduce new money out of thin air in order to fund consumption, then the equation is unbalanced; there is no production to offset that consumption. That implies a reduction in capital investment (again: production capacity), which means goods will be harder to produce and thus more scarce in the future, which means a poorer quality of life for future generations.

> And if there's no plan to pay it off, then why not just write it off? It makes no difference, the whole effect is psychological.

On that point I agree with you. However, I am arguing that we should plan to pay it off, and thus do our part to maintain and improve this world before handing it off to our children.