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Opinion
Aaron Brown

Inflation Could Help Ease the U.S.'s Debt Burden

It's far from a magic bullet, but could buy time for restructuring.
And that was about two weeks ago.

And that was about two weeks ago.

Photographer: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Lightrocket via Getty Images
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Few topics are less conducive to rational debate than the national debt. One of the most divisive questions is whether a country can get into trouble issuing debt in a currency it controls. Surely, a nation would face bigger problems if it borrows in foreign currencies or gold  than if it only promises to repay in scrip it can print itself. But how much of an advantage is it to control the borrowing currency?

The issue is gaining in importance as the U.S. is poised to more than double to $1 trillion the amount of debt it issues this year to pay for a ballooning budget deficit.