That doesn't work, particularly the Venus and Dyson sphere ideas, because being able to borrow that much money doesn't actually give you access to the requisite resources and labor. Resources and labor isn't something you can just conjure out of the void as easily as adding zeros to an entry in a bank's database. If you brought such a ludicrous amount of money into existence, the amount of steel or man-hours a dollar could buy would be greatly diminished.
Furthermore, you presume the money would be spent on successful and profitable projects, rather than being squandered away. If only it were so easy.
Yes, but it’s an absurd number to begin with, so I think some poetic liberty is justified.
To make it slightly more realistic, let’s say the Galactic Development Bank of Betelgeuse offered us that amount as a loan, along with access to their expertise and trading partners, with 1000 years to pay it off.
My actual point is that in the ratio of debt to GDP, perhaps we should use projected future GDP in the denominator, rather than current GDP. This is why a hard upper limit on debt (or even debt-to-GDP ratio) is a dubious idea. It’s all about what the government does with the money.
Furthermore, you presume the money would be spent on successful and profitable projects, rather than being squandered away. If only it were so easy.