Massive Borrowing the approach to pay Massive Debt

From 1789, at the moment the constitution became the supreme law of the land, until 1981, the debt accumulated by the federal government did not top $1 trillion.

In January 2001, when George Bush became president, it stood at approximately $5.7 trillion.

By November 2007, it had increased by 45%, the U.S. Treasury announcing that the national debt had breached $9 trillion for the first time.

This huge debt can be largely explained by our defense expenditures. Plus, America’s tastes for foreign goods, including imported oil, vastly exceed our ability to pay for them.

And we are financing them through massive borrowing.

[Excerpt of an article by Chalmers Johnson, Le Monde]