Our Washington correspondent gives two reasons: No. 1, borrowing can be a costly way to raise money and 2, the U.S. must constantly repay its debts.

Almost everything about this article is wrong. If the government paid off all its debt there would be no money in the economy other than private debt. All gov’t “debt” is, is money its’ spent that it hasn’t taken back in taxes.

Source: ‘Why Should We Worry About the National Debt?’ – NYTimes.com