$14 Trillion in Debt: How could this happen? What does it mean?

Zachary Goldfarb puts the situation in clear terms in today's Washington Post. The real problem is greed and stupidity.

The country has enough wealth to make this debt ludicrously small. To start with, the biggest portion of that money is simply owed to ourselves. Trillions are locked up in the mountains of cash private companies posses, including trillions the rich hide or invest overseas in order to avoid paying taxes.