"The US won't climb out of its $32 trillion debt, David Rubenstein said. Instead, its best bet is to lean on inflation.
"We aren't going to cut expenses in the government. We aren't going to increase taxes that much. We aren't going to go to a bailout with the IMF, that's not realistic. And we're not going to default," the Carlyle Group's co-founder told Bloomberg TV. "The only alternative is to inflate your way out."
But he noted that when inflation increases, lower-income people are often much more disadvantaged than wealthier consumers."
https://www.businessinsider.com/david-rubenstein-us-debt-solution-taxes-spending-inflation-income-inequality-2023-7?op=1
"Americans also own approximately $14 trillion of that debt – as participants in Social Security, insurance policyholders, participants in pension funds, stockholders, or, more directly, by virtue of having purchased Treasury notes. “Treasuries” are very secure, and those not owned by Americans are held by foreign banks and governments that are glad for the chance to lend money, securely, to the United States."
https://scholars.org/contribution/why-there-nothing-scary-about-us-national-debt
"A default would be felt first by Americans who receive payments either directly from the federal government or programs funded by it — like Social Security, military and veterans benefits, housing assistance and food stamps — says Samantha Sanders, the director of government affairs and advocacy at the Economic Policy Institute."
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/15/1176108817/debt-ceiling-retirement-plans
"The short answer is $572,000. That’s not how much each household or adult taxpayer owes, but each man, woman and child in America — so nearly $2.28 million for a family of four.
You can make your check payable to the U.S. Treasury."
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/585679-you-owe-more-than-500000-and-counting/