Assessing whether government debt is sustainable is as much an art as a science.

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Where this collides

• Cannot both be true

  A government debt crisis is measurable and therefore visible well in advance; the diagnostic is mechanical rather than a matter of judgement.

  Dalio says a debt crisis is measurable and therefore visible well in advance, and that the diagnostic is mechanical rather than a matter of judgement. Blanchard, who has spent a career on the question, says assessing debt sustainability is as much an art as a science. One of them is wrong about whether the thing can be computed.

Shared subject first, then similar wording. They may agree or disagree.

• A competent, empowered civil service that performs crucial government functions with in-house expertise is good. NSNoah Smith18 Sept 2026government
• A conspiracy theory can be used as a pretext to dismantle government programs and target researchers and citizens. AAAnne Applebaum4 Sept 2026government
• A free person sees government as a means, neither a giver of favors nor a master to be worshipped MFMilton Friedmanc. 1962government
• A government is legitimate internally if the governed have consented to it, whatever form it takes. BSBalaji Srinivasan12 Jul 2026government
• A government only has legitimacy through long continuity, and once that thread is cut one regime change reliably becomes five. APAda Palmer16 Jun 2026government

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