Justin Wolfers

So that's the first order of economics.

It could one day cause an economic crisis.

Or it might not.

Ask Japan.

We're miles away from that being a problem.

Okay.

That's good.

It's a multi-layered problem.

Let me give you some other ways of thinking about this.

What do we want to do on average?

What we want to do is sock away money when times are bad.

So we've got more money to spend when time, sorry, sock away money when times are good.

So we've got more money to spend when times are bad.

The more we're in debt, the harder it's going to be for us to splash money out next time.

So basically what we're doing today is we're spending money in 2026 instead of during the next pandemic, instead of during the next financial crisis, instead of during the next war.

And then the question is, is that a good trade-off?

I reckon the answer is no.

I would rather have another trillion or so for the next pandemic, the next recession, the next war, the next crisis of some form.

Right.

Then there's the microeconomics of it all, which is in some sense just code for common sense.