Well wait a minute, it seems that everytime the National Debt goes up, the recessions get longer and Wall Street goes through more uncertainty. This can translate into the lack of capital going through private investments and low consumer confidence, which has a direct impact on the stock market.
Add to that the fact that a majority of stock ownership is not by individuals but by mutual funds and pension plans, is it any wonder that the market seems to have flat-lined. It does up for a short time, it comes down for a short time. It's been that way for the past 18 months. Is it going to sink or swim? Lately, the market forces haven't decided which way to go. It's not sinking like it was in 2000-2001, but on the other hand, it isn't rising like the late 90s either.
Paying off the debt would eliminate the money we are paying in interest and free up more capital for private investments and tax reductions. This would lead to a long period of sustained growth, which benefits all of us.
Additionally, from my research, a good chunk of the debt is held by foreign investors. Will we be held hostage when the interest is due and don't have the funds to cover it because outlays are much larger than receipts?
Apply this principle to your own personal finances. If you own a $200K house with a mortgage of $1600/month, for instance, and you have an additional $900/month expenses - your outlays are $2500/month. You make $2000/month take-home, so you need to borrow the additional $500/month just to break even. You are then in deficit spending and have to sell $500 in debt bonds each month ($6K/year). Don't forget the interest.
When the first bonds come due in a year, you have your interest to add on top of the mortgage, on top of the home equity loan. You make $2100/month, but your outlays are $2750/month, you still need to borrow the additional $650/month to cover the 2nd loan and interest.
The next year, you make $2150/month (recession causes only a $50/month pay increase), so you have to borrow $900/month because of taking out yet another loan, adding to the interest, and your regular monthly expenses went up slightly. When are you going to be able to start paying your mortgage down? You can't borrow your way into prosperity.
Pretty soon you will have so much debt that you need to raise the interest on your debt bonds to make the price attractive and it raises the total household debt by astronomical proportions. Someday you will have to pay the piper.
On the other hand, your debt vs GDP is only 24.2 percent, with the GDP defined as all of the wages in the family. Your brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents wages and debt all count as well. The only thing is - you are the only one in the family carrying the debt. 24.2 percent of the GDP is a huge amount when it amounts to 100+ percent of your wages.
When do we pay the piper as a government?