@exile,
exile;168668 wrote:This debt is owed to other people and thus is exactly balanced by credits. In this situation the creditors have more to worry about than the debtors as it is always open to the government to default - many governments have in the past, the most recent the Russian one (1998).
Let's discuss this relationship between creditor and debtor then. The U.S. borrows for consumption. The Chinese lend to subsidize an expansion in manufacturing production. This is the trade imbalance. Manufacturing is real value while consumption has no value. A sharp correction is required and will come in the form of a dollar collapse. After which the Chinese will still be in posession of their manufacturing and the Americans will be facing a lower standard of living.
Of course the honest thing for the U.S. to do is to default on their obligations for it is technically bankrupt. The nightmare is precisely due to the fact that the U.S. will not default but will print money as it is now doing. Raising taxes will lead to lower growth and greater government powers over the people; political unrest is inevitable. Meanwhile unemployment in the U.S. stands at 10%.
exile;168668 wrote:Alternatively, it can inflate its way out of trouble.
The decision has already been made. hyperinflation is inevitable.
exile;168668 wrote:Or, it can stop spending so much money. Or it can raise taxes.
The government will not stop spending money because it has so much power. In fact, the U.S. will never be able to balance its budget again. Raising taxes with 10% unemployment will lead to social unrest with the power of the government coming down upon the heads of the people as they become poorer.
Quote:Or it can just keep borrowing. Bondholders have nowhere else to go - all governments are in much the same position.
I agree that fiat currencies are doomed.
Quote:World War II was a collosally expensive exercise which left governments throughout the world with debts which in real terms were far larger than today. And yet this was followed by a 30 year boom.
Where is this growth going to come from? Manufacturing? More consumption? Ha, ha! There is no way that that type of growth is even remotely possible in the future. The governments are too large the populations of the West are too old. Today the debt in the U.S. is growing faster than the G.D.P.
The U.S. government needs to shrink by about half, but no one has the stomach for strong medicine. The government employees earn twice the amount of money that the average worker earns today. The U.S. government will declare martial law before it cuts government spending.
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