[dagoat]

Perhaps there's a strategy to reducing debt in the long run that involves taking on more debt in the short term? Spend money to make money as they say.

Slightly off the beaten path, but:

IIRC, roughly, the U.S began transitioning from a creditor nation to a debtor nation around the time of the Nixon handshake. Some argue that period marked the beginning of the end for the U.S as a superpower. Of course, that result has not fully materialized yet - if it will at all.