Dear John: Your column about debt is right on.

I have been following federal spending, deficits and debt for many decades.

Where you and I part is that I believe that all this excessive federal spending is the result of central banking, i.e., the Federal Reserve.

Central banks finance all this and make big government possible. They finance with their printing presses.

Governments love central banks. That’s why they exist.

Interest payments fall partly on future generations, but the initial cost is paid by those in the present — by the loss of value in the monetary unit.

Until voters start voting out the big spenders, this will continue at the risk of a financial collapse.

We are on a kamikaze mission of fiscal suicide. H.B.

Dear H.B.: Hopefully you are wrong.

I agree that federal spending is out of control. All you have to do is look at the numbers to see that — there’s a record $22 trillion in US debt as of this year, and it’s growing quickly.

And the reason for that growth is obvious. Politicians not only don’t want to stop spending, they can’t. They’ve made too many promises to constituents when seeking election.

A war here. A weather crisis there. And suddenly even the best intentions to cut the debt are ruined.

The Fed has certainly been a party to all this spending. For the last 10 years, the Fed has kept interest rates extraordinarily low. Not only could people buy houses at the lower borrowing costs, but also the US government was able to borrow trillions of dollars at a discount.

God certainly did bless America, as the song goes. But we shouldn’t abuse our good fortune by not paying attention to our financial matters. Thanks for the note.