It's true, that's one of the things Stephanie Kelton and the MMT bunch are right about... these numbers literally don't mean anything because there's no real denominator.

Pointing out these big numbers for shock value is trendy, but it's not an effective mechanism for education... people reflexively think that things can be tweaked or disciplined into getting the number down, or at least stop it from growing. This misses the really interesting thing about the system, is these numbers CAN'T slow or go down without ending the system altogether.

You hear this all the time, and it makes your head spin.

Banks own the debt. Default on the debt, and bank balances go poof

Makes me think of this gem from The Onion

oh yes, that's right. just forget it. then everything is fine. It's all just madness. and it's not portrayed at all in the press in its impact...