NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's dawning on people that getting a handle on burgeoning U.S. debt will be a long and hard process.

So if lawmakers can't agree on a credible plan, some have suggested that the country could just "inflate its way" out of its fiscal ditch.

The idea: Pursue policies that boost prices and wages and erode the value of the currency.

The United States would owe the same amount of actual dollars to its creditors -- but the debt becomes easier to pay off because the dollar becomes less valuable.

That's hardly a good plan, say a bevy of debt experts and economists.

"Many countries have tried this and they've all failed," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

It's true that inflation could...