governments that borrow in another currency will find the and will hardt default, like russia did in the 1990's. ourrnments that are able to their own currency will soon print money to cover payments and stop default by causing uninspected inflation. -- inill hurt creditors other words, the salt of the and her debtors, a species of profligate swine. -- kurt debtors, a species of profligate swine. holders of the third view, he calls realists. to them, context is everything. borrowing is a tool that can be used responsibly to improve the nation's economic situation or irresponsibly to destroy it. some situations, government debt is good policy. in others, it is unwarranted. neither optimist nor pessimists are always wrong. it depends on the situation. represent debtors economic decisions that do change over a lifecycle or business cycle. neither group is morally good or bad. alexander hamilton's view of the national debt can be summed up in a single quotation from his letter to a philadelphia merchant. the line is often given as -- a will be to us a national blessing. that rendition th