“Classic finance theory tells us that printing money leads to inflation. ”

Right, but that has absolutely no relevance here. During recessions an economy will go through deflation, a far more dangerous phenomenon than inflation. Inflation, as long as it is controlled, is perfectly healthy. And when we are potentially in a deflationary spiral, the best solution is to take on debt and stimulate the economy.

“I have spent almost my entire adult life trying to get out of debt. And, now that I am finally succeeding, there is no way that I’m going back down that slippery slope. I hope that the American government will learn these same lessons itself soon.”

This is frankly a ridiculous thing to suggest. It is reasonable for an individual to be debt-free, but even for a reasonably small company debt is integral to growth. Any business, country, or even individual that goes through cycles require debt to operate. Banks sell commercial paper to cover operating expenses. Governments go into deficits during recessions and pay back during booms (although the latter rule was violated by the Bush administration). And many people have credit cards that they use to purchase items and then pay at the end of the month. Is it irresponsible to purchase discretionary goods using a credit card knowing that you will receive the income required for that purchase at the end of the month? Not at all. The same is true for bigger economic entities. Your suggestion that the U.S. government should not take on debt is ludicrous. We should be prepared to pay off debt once the economy recovers, but now is the worst possible time to be considering the deficit.

“Eventually, people and foreign governments will stop lending to us.”

There is no evidence that this is true. The US is and will remain a very reliable borrower. We will not, as fear-mongerers claim, default on our debt. Our current debt is manageable. As long as we drop the Reagan/Bush trend of returning surpluses as tax cuts once recovery is complete, we can reduce the debt.

Again, these are just a few of the more egregious errors here. Econ 101 and Finance 101 simply don’t apply during an economic crisis.