Public debt seems to operate like a mask behind which lies a shadowy world of creditors to whose upkeep entire economies are mortgaged.Unfortunately, the authors barely scratch the surface of this debt problem that has had widespread adverse effects, not only geographically, but historically and against not only individuals but entire nations.
Can that mask be lifted? It has been in other countries, through the mechanism of a debt audit. Initiatives like this have happened in Brazil, Ecuador and elsewhere in order to untangle the web of secrecy around the debt and work out who lent what to whom, when and for what purpose. Typically, there is an expectation that some, at least, of the debt, will be found to be "illegitimate", and can therefore be repudiated.
Many of these debts were aggressively pushed onto governments led by corrupt regimes. After lining the pockets of dictators the loans were often used wastefully, e.g. to buy weapons from large corporations. More recently huge debts occurred after many governments bailed out their banks that gambled with worthless packaged mortgages and other obscure financial instruments that few people understood. See this, and for Greece as an example see this, and this about government debts resulting from the bailouts. For inside information about the earlier loans pushed often onto corrupt governments, read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins.
Also in should be mentioned that instead of raising taxes on the rich, the rich much prefer having their governments assume debt in the forms of bonds, loans, etc. Instead of paying decent wages to workers, they encourage workers to use credit cards to purchase items that the advertising world insists they should have in order to be an acceptable human being.