I recently wrote an essay in which I argued that the dollar will eventually collapse due to the excessive debt burden of the American federal government. My conclusion was challenged by Jon Hall who aruged that I painted too dire a picture. In his article he challenged my assessment of both the national debt and unfunded entitlement liabilities.I welcome the opportunity to answer on both points. In today's essay I will address the objection regarding the national debt. I will try to do this in thorough fashion, because Mr. Hall's reaction reflects a commonly held misconception.Those who hold it believe that a substantial portion of our government's debt does not represent genuine obligation. This is how Mr. Hall puts it:[O]ne must understand that the "total public debt" figure cited consists of two parts: hard debt and soft debt. The hard debt is the real debt. And the soft debt consists of government "trust funds," like the social security trust fund. The soft...(Read Full Post)