This is a question we should all be asking, given that the side of politics that once pretended to be conservative rubbished the socialist side (Rudd) for wanting to increase our debt to $75 million, but who have now racked up debt multiple times that amount themselves.

Well, someone has asked, and the answer comes from Adam Creighton, economics editor on The Australian.

Sixty percent of Australia’s debt in held by foreign countries, with most of that portion held by Japan. Australian banks are also involved by law.

The rest of the debt? Well, according to Creighton, the borrowers - the government - don’t necessarily know. Apparently, a lot of foreign central banks and foreign bond holders do not like it known that they own debt, and they work through nominee companies such as JP Morgan and the like.

The more this “conservative” government digs itself into debt because of its own ineptness and panicked, economy-wrecking reaction to the China virus, the more scary our future gets. That they don’t know to whom they owe some of the money is downright terrifying.

Adam Creighton is far smarter than the numerous pollies, media and bureaucrats. From day one he called out the complete failure of the national cabinet. The debt will be owned by my grandkids. I think when rational finally kicks in some State Premiers could end up in prison. They have been a disgrace taking away people's basic liberities.

Yes, all we have left is a consumer society that relies on more and more debt to keep the economy going.

Recessions, which serve as a check on the error of our ways, are no longer allowed.

We are either headed for the biggest crash ever, or debt levels are going to be largely written off by agreement between the major powers, assuming that the stupidly low interest rates do not prevail forever

Kids sitting for their matriculation exams in a few weeks time will still be paying off the debt when they are you in their late 70s.

The process of money creation creates an equal amount of debt. This can happen in the private sector (which has limited capacity to take on debt) or the public sector (which has unlimited capacity).

Why are so many people under the delusion that their grandchildren would be under an obligation to eliminate the pubic sector's debt?

Given how slowly our national debt was being paid down even before the pandemic, it could be a century or more before ours has been brought down to manageable levels. A century if our descendants are lucky !! We're ruined !

Isn't hysteria fun ?

OTOH, if interest rates stay relatively low, and once our economic activity is back to 'normal', and with a reasonable annual inflation rate, even a debt of a trillion dollars may not be the monster we assume: after all, interest on that much may be minuscule for some time, and low for some time after that.

Meanwhile, with inflation, the debt (in today's dollars) declines anyway. So combining very low interest rates on our debt, 'normal' economic activity, and a standard inflation rate, that debt may not be so insurmountable. Give it a generation or so :)

Joe