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It matters for the same reason money matters. It's a unit of measure of fairness, a promise to return a favor. Defaulting on a debt, is like eating at a restaurant and skipping out on paying the bill. Inflating away the debt, is like eating at a restaurant, and saying you'll pay for the bill (+interest) the next time you come in, and then doing it again every time you come in. Clearly in both cases, it is unfair for someone (ie the restaurant staff). Anyhow, the same principle holds for the national debt, just that the repercussions are much more complicated. Certainly if the government defaults on its debts, investors in that debt would be at a loss. And certainly, if the government inflates its debts, creditors and the unwealthy (which, keep in mind, is also mostly comprised of the young) are at a loss due to a debased currency. But, in either case, if inequality doesn't matter to you, then yes it doesn't matter all. I mean, on one hand, there's no reason we couldn't survive as a society with slavery, we did so in the past. But, also keep in mind, the scale of things. Trillions sounds like a lot, but there are also billions of people out there. It's also possible for the economy (ie productivity) to grow, negating any "printing away of debts". |