Today we are exploring the core ideas in Richard Vague's book, The Paradox of Debt. The book opens with a fascinating paradox: in 2020, as the U.S. government took on a staggering $3 trillion in new debt to rescue the economy, American household wealth didn't just hold steady—it skyrocketed by a record-breaking $14.5 trillion.
How is this possible? Vague's work seeks to answer some of the most fundamental questions in economics: What is money? What is debt? And what truly brings about increases in wealth?
He presents a new approach that challenges conventional economics by applying the familiar tools of financial accounting—income statements and balance sheets—to reveal the powerful and often overlooked role of total debt, integrating both public and private, in shaping our financial world.
