Why America's gigantic national debt is a good thing

Sorry, Time. Your new cover story is terrible.

Can printing money create enough stimulus for our economy?
(Image credit: James Leynse/Corbis)

America's chattering class always seems to try to make the "debt crisis" a thing. Just take the new Time Magazine cover story by James Grant.

For anyone who follows this stuff, Grant's argument is exasperatingly familiar: The $13.9 trillion the U.S. owes to creditors is unmanageable; the Federal Reserve artificially lowers interest rates with its magical money-creating powers; we'd be better off with "sound money" and balanced budgets.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.