[sethd]

> A century more?

No one knows because it depends on a lot of variables that cannot be predicted in advance. The only major short term threat is that we default due purely debt ceiling debates / brinkmanship, not because of the burden of the debt itself.

The debt becomes a very real problem if hegemony of the US dollar as a reserve currency is ever disrupted. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, though.

> What's the future of the state as an institution?

Very high tax rates, unfortunately. Although there’s worse outcomes (currency destruction). These are the possible long term consequences.

[schmidtleonard]

If currency devaluation is so devastating, why do so many countries try so hard to do it? In moderation, of course: everything is obviously bad in the extreme. However, it's a constant source of international tension for a country to promise not to devalue their currency, devalue it anyway, and for this to make their economic neighbors upset. Often they will lay into each other without even bothering to explain why currency devaluation might be desirable, because it is such basic macroeconomic 101 / political economy 101 knowledge that is expected to be understood by everyone listening. How do these actions jibe with the idea that currency devaluation is a fate worse than death (err, very high tax rates)?

Level up your macroeconomics before you catastrophize over the prospect of currency devaluation.

[sethd]

You need to level up your reading skills. I said destruction, not devaluation.

[schmidtleonard]

If you don't want me to charitably interpret your words, I don't have to, but now you have to defend them. Explain why the US will be different from the last 500 years of reserve currencies to find themselves in this situation. Excessive government debt is a problem, but it isn't a new one. Youtube thumbnails with flames and red arrows are new, but they aren't a problem.