I need two separate responses to these answers .

1- The current low impact rates show that the US economy has been in a decline. When economic growth is decreasing and spending decreases, the FED would usually decrease interest rates to encourage borrowing and spending with the hopes of boosting the economy.

Treasury bonds, government bills and notes have fixed interest rates. This means that once investors purchase them, the rate associated with the bond bill or note cannot change. When market interest rates decrease, the existing value of older bonds increase due to the increase in demand for them; higher demand, higher prices. Although the lower market interest rates affect the bond or bill price, it does not affect the face value that the Government must at the end of maturity nor the interest payments that the government has to pay to investors.

Additionally, the US government bonds and bills are very secured and low risk. Even if the government is struggling and is not economically stable enough to pay back the principal amount by the maturity date, there is a very low chance that it will default.

2- A struggling economys impact on repaying the debt would most likely result in a deficit year and make their ability to retire the debt more difficult in the short-term, but long-term debt reliability of the government poses fewer issues. A deficit year means that government spending is greater than the tax collections (each of these is affected by the state of the economy). Therefore, if the economy is struggling, it is likely that government spending would increase (e.g., more people are eligible for need-based programs). Also, some lawmakers may increase this spending to further stimulate the economy in a difficult time such as a recession. On the other hand, tax revenues would decrease because people are working less (pay less in taxes), and corporations earn less (pay less in taxes). An increase in government spending and a decrease in tax collection would result in a high deficit for which the money borrowed that year would be added to the federal debt. This is one reason illustrating why these conditions would make the government's ability to retire debt more difficult in the short-term. In the long-term, it is important to note that much of this accumulated debt is highly secured and mature in a longer period of time. The United States government is also under a risk-free status which means it has a very low default risk. There are also protections in place to avoid failure to repay such as the debt ceiling. The sovereign repayment ability is also very high because the tax generation in the country is reliable due to the various revenue sources (e.g., taxes and purchase of securities). Therefore, in the long-term, the debt should be retired with limited issues.