National debt: We should not start paying it off right now

As stated before, I will make my arguments as concise as possible to avoid a long-winded debate without detracting from the truth.I am not very good with computers so I didn't realize my DEBT/GDP ratio graphs in my previous post did not display large enough. Here is a link to them.US GDP/DEBT ratio graph: http://www.pixentral.com...Japan GDP/DEBT ratio graph: http://www.pixentral.com...The point I am illustrating in showing these graphs is that a GDP/DEBT ratio is not indicative of an unstable economy, Japan is the 3rd largest economy and surpassed the US in GDP/DEBT ratio back in 1997.OPPONENT SUMMARY#1. The nominal debt is rising - therefore it is an immediate problem#2. The current U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is a problem #3. Interest on debt is why the national debt it is an immediate problem#4. Interest rates are low now, but once interest rates will rise once our economy is back on track - becoming a financial problem#5. The long-run implications of debt with just making the minimum payments will results in more taxation and eventual economic sluggishness.#6. debt is determinal to economic growth - which is a problem#7. Our debt is unsustainable, is leading to higher inflation, and causes a "crowding out effect".My response to my opponents argumentsI will start with point #7 and work my way up to #1 - then present a quick conclusion:#7. Our debt is unsustainable, is leading to higher inflation, and causes a "crowding out effect".Let's take a look at the solid evidence first. Since Obama took office, the national debt rose by $6 trillion dollars [1].Surely this $6 trillion in spending would lead to out of control inflation and skyrocketing interest rates, then lead to a crowding out effect on the private market right? Not the case. Let's take a look at the facts on inflation first.Here is inflation over the last decade: Link to this picture: http://s14.postimg.org...Here is the the shockingly low interest rate: Link to this picture: http://s10.postimg.org...As you can see: Interest rates are lower than ever, and inflation - despite huge government spending - is not any higher or lower than at was with less government spending. The reason? Let's take a look back at the production possibilities curve: We are still at point "D" on the production possibilites curve. Our economy is still not at full potential. Huge government spending has had no effect on inflation or led to higher interest rates for this reason. Once our economy is back at full potential, that is the time to begin paying back the debt.# 6. Debt is determinal to economic growth - therefore it is a problemThere are a few reasons why this is not a problem. 1) we own debt in our own currency, our currency is the international currency, and we can print as much money as we like 2) the same way a business uses credit to buy its products is akin to the way we use expansionary government spending to lift the economy during bad times without negative consequences of inflation or rising interest rates - no crowding out effect. The solution is to pay back the debt during good economic times, the same way a that a business that begins to make large profit will start paying more back on its debt.#5. The long-run implications of debt with just making the minimum payments will results in more taxation and eventual economic sluggishness.The key word here is [u]long-run[/u]. In the short run, during an economic recession, it is necessary to use expansionary government spending to lift the economy out of crisis for the reasons I listed above. In the long-run, once our economy is lifted out of a recession, then it is necessary to begin paying more on our national debt. The same way a struggling business wouldn't begin to pay large amounts of its debt back until the business was more profitable.#4. Interest rates are low now, but once interest rates will rise once our economy is back on track - becoming a financial problemThe key word here is "[u]once our economy is back on track[/u]. The road to economic recovery or the process of even reaching "back on track" would much slower and painful if expansionary government spending wasn't helping the economy to reach it's full potential. The logical option is to pay more back on the debt we used to expand the economy during bad times.#3. Interest on debt is why the national debt it is an immediate problem.We own the debt in our own currency. We print more money - but no inflation follows. Then we pay the printed money as interest to other countries we owe it to. Effectively we are cancel out the interest problem when noticing this simple truth.#2. The current U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is a problem Japan currently holds over 200% of a DEBT/GDP ratio and is the worlds third largest economy. They surpassed us in 1997 in GDP/DEBT ratio.#1. The nominal debt is rising - therefore it is an immediate problemThe key words here are "immediate" and seeing an inherent danger in nominal debt rising. I am [u]not[/u] arguing that we do not pay back our debt at all - but rather when our economy is experiencing low unemployment and get out of recessionary times. We own debt in our own currency - the international currency of the world, we own the printing press, inflation is constant, and interest rates are at an all-time low. The unemployment rate is falling steadily as well, we are getting back on track. I don't see the immediate problem, and even more curious, is to take a look at what happens when we [u]don't[/] use expansionary spending. The worst economic crisis in American history comes to mind - The Great Depression.As a conclusion, I will offer you words from arguably, one of the greatest economists of our generation: Paul Krugman. He completely agrees we me that we should not make extra payments on national debt right now. He has some excellent videos on YouTube for the same reaons. Here he is: http://www.youtube.com...Here is a great article also by Krugman: http://www.nytimes.com...Paul Krugman's credentials : Nobel prize-winning professor of economics at Princeton University, specializing in international and Macroeconomics [2].[u]SOURCES[/u][1] http://www.cbsnews.com...[2] http://en.wikipedia.org...