About 1/3 of Goldman Sachs so called value is in mortgage dirivitives, which is actually debt owed by the borrower. If they don't pay, Goldman doesn't get their money back. So, there is probably 1,000 times mortgage debt owed than what the feds owe. However the feds don't have any assets to pay back their debt with only taxes. Goldman might be too big so they might need to be broken up same as all too big to fail banks or businesses. More competition and if one smaller company fails, the feds don't have to bail them out. No one can bail out the feds except China.
But all banks work that way, you deposit $ and they loan it out keeping a reserve in case you want some of your $.
This is the creation of wealth. You deposit $100 in the bank, the bank pays you 1% and keeps 20% of your money on hand and loans out $80 of it. So lets take 1000 people all putting $100 in a CD for a year. That allows them to loan out $80,000 at an interest rate to pay for the building, pay the employees and pay you the interest they agreed to pay for you lending them your money.
As they eld out that $80,000 and people buy items with it or hire people, those people will deposit their money in the bank and they cna loan a portion of that out. Yes there is only going to be the original 100,000 but that money can turn into 300,000 of assests. The people borrowing the moeny want the asset and will repay the loan to either have the assest or borrow the money to make more by hiring people to work for them, buy raw materials, or capital that helps make things. So if the 80,000 was borrowed by a farmer to clear land, buy seeds, a plow and a draft horse. The clearing of the land would be labor, the seeds would be raw materials and the plow adn horse would be capital. The horse is worth something, the plow is worth something and the seeds will be worth something once they grow.
China will never bail out the excessive spending of the fed govt if they will not be paid back. Would you led me $ if I told you I would pay you 20% interest but the million I am borrowing from you the interest is far more than I bring in.