system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does the United States national debt directly affect it's citizens? Why should they be concerned?
gpt
the debt itself doesn't do much of anything unless we default. however, it *is* an indicator. increases in the -rate- of debt accumulation are caused by factors that also impact the basic machinery that drives the economy.

just to emphasize, what matters is the **rate** of debt accumulation, not the actual dollar amount owed.

the responses you see getting downvoted for some reason, talking about inflation, devaluation of the dollar, interest rates, and so on are true. if the national debt suddenly doubled in the space of a month, you would expect all of those things to happen.

where they err is that the debt isn't a cause, just a symptom.