America’s national debt is on the verge of reaching the historic milestone of $40 trillion. It took the US nearly two centuries to accumulate the first trillion – the last ten trillion were added in less than five years. How did a once unimaginable figure become political normality? Why is the debt spiral accelerating ever faster? And why did monetary theorist Antal Fekete call gold the “ultimate debt quencher”? Thomas Bachheimer looks back at the milestones of one, ten, and now 40 trillion dollars – and explains with his characteristic sarcasm why America can create new dollars at any time, but not the trust of its creditors. Can gold still save the dollar – or will it ultimately just present the bill?
