Don't panic about the national debt — the US has the wealth to handle it

When the debt is framed as a crushing multiple of one year’s income, the conversation narrows to two unappealing options: cut spending or raise taxes on the wages and salaries ordinary Americans live on. Compare the debt to the country’s total wealth, though, and a different path emerges — one that requires neither austerity nor squeezing the middle class.

When the debt is framed as a crushing multiple of one year’s income, the conversation narrows to two unappealing options: cut spending or raise taxes on the wages and salaries ordinary Americans live on. Compare the debt to the country’s total wealth, though, and a different path emerges — one that requires neither austerity nor squeezing the middle class.