The Tragedy of U.S. Debt

Stupidity and cowardice are a costly combination. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. “Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry,” wrote the 16th-century economist William Shakespeare, who went on to advise: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Americans, who like to talk about their Christian faith more than study it (“The wicked person borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and giving”) have twice elected the self-proclaimed “king of debt,” an infamous deadbeat and serial bankrupt, as president of the United States, while entrusting the national purse strings to the control of his self-abasing toadies in Congress. Kevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics. More We Think You’d Like