A silly question in regards to national debt?

Money is paper. It only has value if people ascribe value to it. That they trust it.

Now (lets get rid of all those zeros). If you have $100 dollars, and want to buy 100 candy bars, each one would cost $1.00.

Now, lets say that there are $1,000. And still, 100 candy bars. Nothing else has changed. Each candy bar is exactly the same size, same ingredients. All is the same.

Now, to buy those same 100 candy bars, they would cost $10 each. Not because the candy bars changed, but because there were so many more pieces of paper (dollars) floating around, that each one is worth less.

On a national level, this is what would happen. You still have dollars, but each one is worth less.

NOW, it is not unusual for the government to increase the number of dollars by varioous methods (sometimes caused quantitative easing). Here's why.

Sometimes, banks lend all the dollars that are deposited (actually more than are deposited) to other people to buy houses, equipment, expand, etc. So the money is in the economy.

But when banks do not lend, those dollars just sit in the bank vault. They exist, but are not being used.

When this happens, and the government increases the number of dollars in the economy, it does not devalue the dollar because of all the money sitting idle in the bank vault.

Some people are concerned, however, that EVENTUALLY, the banks will start lending more dollars, the money in their vault will fly out into the economy, and THEN you have many more dollars available for the same goods. The price (number of pieces of paper) needed to buy things go up, because each piece of paper (dollar) is worth less.

And that ... my dear ... is inflation.

Good luck (and I was not intending to demean you, but my explanation is a very simplified explanation that is covered in 2 semesters of college economics. While simple, there are MANY variables we did not discuss above)

You are asking the right question. But the answer is too long to explain here. Watch the following video and you will understand the answer you are looking for. Its called The Secret of Oz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swkq2E8mswI I don't agree with all the solutions in this film but the information is a great starting point to understanding the problem. Take the time and watch this video.

If you flood the United States with 15 trillion dollars then inflation will increase like crazy and the value of the dollar will fall. It would cost $150 for a loaf of bread.

Because printing more money just means that the money that's already in circulation becomes worth less. It is not "making" more money. So instead of a gallon of gas costing you $3.50, it will now cost $7.00 because your dollars are worth less. BTW not a silly question, lots of people do not understand such things.

Many feel this way but it would just deflate the U S dollar much like a women who has ''open 24 hours'' on her knees, who wants it?