The part nobody wants to say out loud: a lot of the "soft landing" talk only works if governments keep borrowing like rates are still near zero. The OECD debt numbers should bother anyone who thinks this can coast forever. Rich countries are rolling over piles of old debt at higher interest costs, and politicians act like that's some accounting footnote instead of a direct hit on growth, defense, and basic services. You can't run trillion dollar deficits in peacetime, keep aging populations on autopilot, and then act shocked when taxes rise or your currency gets shaky. I'm not rooting for austerity theater. I'm saying priorities matter. Borrow for energy, ports, defense, maybe. Borrow to avoid every hard budget choice? That's how you drift into managed decline.