Britain finishes paying off WWII debt
Sixty years on, we finally pay for the war
On Friday [December 29th] this country [the UK] will make its final repayment on the US$4.33 billion loan given by the United States in 1945. Canada will also receive the last payment on its Can$1.25 billion loan. ... Ed Balls, the City minister, told The Times last night that it was a historic moment. “This week we finally honour in full our commitments to the US and Canada for the support they gave us 60 years ago. It was vital support which helped Britain defeat Nazi Germany and secure peace and prosperity in the postwar period. We honour our commitments to them now as they honoured their commitments to us all those years ago.” ... While Friday's payments will close the book on the UK's Second World War debts, Britain still owes and is owed billions of pounds in relation to loans made and costs incurred during the First World War. However, since a moratorium on all war debts agreed at the height of the Great Depression, no debt repayments have been made to or received from other nations since 1934.
Here's an example of a good sort of national debt. This continues to benefits British citizens today, so it's fair that today's citizen' bear part of the burden for winning the war their fathers fought and won so they could have their freedom today. Debt for social programs, operating expenses or programs with little future benefit is bad debt; debt for capital expenditures or wars is good debt since future generations will benefit from them.