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Of the two options, borrow or print, printing is the worse option. Borrowing creates long term problems so it has better chance of being addressed. There could be favorable political leaders emerging etc.

Printing causes immediate currency devaluation and inflation. Groceries, gasoline, health costs, legal costs, local taxes & fees etc are already inflating. Those can not be imported cheaply or have limited supply. Only stuff which can be manufactured in cheap labor countries will feel moderate inflation.

Have you lived through the double digit inflationary period during president Carter? We are headed back there.

Your post is a good one, but I don’t think we borrow from China anymore.

Baraq just has Geithner (or Jack Lew) make it and Bernanke buy it.

International banking enables government borrowing; it has for a very long time. The Bank of England itself was founded based on the panic which ensued after defeat in a naval battle. The international banking community is quick to pounce on any opportunity for business and especially for locking in future business; fear, agitation, etc., represent just such opportunities.

International banking involves syndicates; it's the people who run these syndicates that governments find to be essential to marketing their issuances of debt.

Financial panics, fear, war, uprisings, etc., all cause an urgent for government spending that can easily outstrip reserves and the ability to tax. International bankers always stand ready to lend. Of course, they need not only lend their own capital, they can also employ leverage. The international banker is then lending money he has borrowed. He can also turn around and sell the debt instruments if he ensures that they are designed appropriately. He then functions merely as an agent and collects a fee for arranging the financing, leaving those he markets the debt to as it's owners.

The Lousiana Purchase was actually facilitated by private bankers. Napolean had urgent need for hard money (facing war with Britain) and America had to finance the purchase. The bonds America issued were sold by Napolean to bankers at a steep discount so he could get the currency he needed right away.

The details of international financial history are largely kept out of the history that is prepared for public consumption. Of course they are also mostly kept out of the press, since in many cases it would be quite difficult for politicians to gain the cooperation of the public if the details of international finance and investment were all common knowledge.