America Is Undergoing a Massive Debt-for-Equity Swap

The arithmetic of doom on America’s debt and budget shortfalls has been a favorite parlor game for fiscal conservatives since 1971, when Richard Nixon removed the last constraint on federal borrowing by ending the dollar’s convertibility to gold. Those voices have gotten louder of late as growing debt absorbs ever-larger shares of federal revenue, with net interest now near $1 trillion a year, more than the defense budget.