“Makes no sense to me. The money doesn’t go anywhere. It just changes hands. And yet we seem to live in a world in which every country on the planet is broke and in debt.”
Respectfully;
The people who took received the money are not broke and in debt. It’s the government entities that decided that spending money and printing it would be possible forever with no consequences who are obliged to repay it.
The money is in vehicles, homes, food markets, “investments” in solar collector companies, “saved” automotive companies, “infrastructure” projects that never took place, “free” phones, “free” food, “youth” programs, “free” school breakfasts, lunches and dinners, “free” tuitition, and every other excuse for government taxing, spending and borowing that results in debt that must be paid off.
The money has to be repaid but there’s noone left to repay such astronomical amounts of money that were thrown out with no hope of return, camouflaged as “investments”.
IMHO
Not to speak of promised future “benefits” that are currently unfunded.