The real boomer legacy: failed war, foreign debt

Debt to foreign governments is rising by roughly $700-800 billion annually. These governments for the moment are content to lend the U.S these lofty sums at reasonable interest rates, but that could change by, for instance, an act of terrorism that would shake foreign confidence in the U.S., cause the budget deficit to increase due to a drop in revenues and an increase in spending for reconstruction and retaliation; together these might cause foreigners to cut back on capital flows to the U.S. and given our enormous dependence would cause the dollar to plummet and interest rates to rise. "10 Questions: Who's Paying for The War" CBS News