The United States ranks alongside a long list of nations that have taken on enormous debt to fight wars, pandemics, and fuel future economic growth. How have nations resolved their debts, and what does this tell us about the future of the United States?
Barry Eichengreen of UC Berkeley joins me in this episode of YDHTY to discuss his book, In Defense of Public Debt, which discusses the history of sovereign debt dating back to Ancient Greece. In this episode, we discuss the different ways nations have resolved their debts, how FDR restructured the national debt to the chagrin of bondholders, and how demographics and today's political climate paint a complicated forecast for America's future.