# "I.O.U.S.A.": $53 trillion debt to destroy us all?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-o-u-s-a-53-trillion-debt-to-destroy-us-all/459556>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 11, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-o-u-s-a-53-trillion-debt-to-destroy-us-all/459556 "2008-08-11T02:07:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-o-u-s-a-53-trillion-debt-to-destroy-us-all/459556/5 "2008-08-11T04:28:46Z")

</div>

If I owe my creditors $1000, I have a problem. If the US government owes its creditors $53 trillion, the creditors have a problem.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-o-u-s-a-53-trillion-debt-to-destroy-us-all/459556)._
