What is the difference between debt "we owe ourselves" and debt "we owe others"?

[kentuck]

I have heard this for decades. The debt doesn't really matter because we owe it to ourselves.

However, now we owe a lot of debt to China, Japan, India, England, Canada and others. That is debt "we owe others". They bought our T-bills and notes.

But would not Social Security debt, when the government borrows the SS fund money, be debt that "we owe ourselves"? Why would we count that debt in with what "we owe others"? Do we not "owe it to ourselves"?

[MadHound]

1. The debt that "we owe to ourselves" really isn't that

It is a debt that we owe to American citizens who bought debt instruments such as Treasury bonds. Thus, the debt is owed to actual people, for the most part, very rich people.

[kentuck]

2. But, I do believe we could print money to put people to work...

and that it would not inflate this economy. Since we would print this debt to ourselves, I don't see why we couldn't just write it off after it served its purpose?

[girl gone mad]

4. Yes, we can "print" without causing inflation.

Check out the link in my signature for more detailed analysis of the monetary system. We do have to be vigilant about inflation, but we absolutely have a lot of room to spend and put people back to work and invest in future growth right now.

[alc]

3. Defaulting on standard tbills would be bad

It doesn't matter who owns them. The security of all tbills would be in doubt and there would be a sell off.

SS doesn't own standard tbills. They own "special" tbills that are non-marketable (SS can't sell them to anyone but the US government). If "defaulting" on them has any effect on standard tbills it would be to make them seem safer since it shows we are prioritizing our debt and screwing US seniors instead of standard bondholders.