tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post3068387069175265170..comments2024-03-28T20:22:27.133-04:00Comments on Doug Ross @ Journal: 'The U.S. has no way of avoiding a financial Armageddon'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-80451039937268519712010-01-03T00:17:32.087-05:002010-01-03T00:17:32.087-05:00@A Jacksonian,
I have a slightly different take o...@A Jacksonian,<br /><br />I have a slightly different take on China. I don't think they're so much buying our debt; I think <a href="http://rebootcongress.blogspot.com/2009/02/let-me-revise-and-extend-my-remarks.html" rel="nofollow">China is purchasing future foreign policy concessions</a>. They'll offer us debt forgiveness and we'll recognize their territorial claims to Taiwan and Tibet.dsmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01501964533388756254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-47504817295762025902010-01-02T23:08:51.707-05:002010-01-02T23:08:51.707-05:00Democrats need to figure out if they are Mao lovin...Democrats need to figure out if they are Mao loving communists, run of the mill public option socialists or big banking, big health fascists.<br /><br />The good thing is the get to throw billions of dollar at whichever option they like.<br /><br />Ain't power grandLeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07547456351109882991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-567938954370235342010-01-02T17:11:48.905-05:002010-01-02T17:11:48.905-05:00"Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, the former Rhode...<i>"Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, was a quadrillion times worse than it was in Weimar Germany."</i><br /><br />LOL! I guess trillion really is the new billion and we have quadrillion yet to look forward to.<br /><br />Glad I own a farm.Hucbaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17111826753868595100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-42608082855666674372010-01-02T17:07:59.977-05:002010-01-02T17:07:59.977-05:00Fboness,
Ridiculous. What matters is that you us...Fboness,<br /><br />Ridiculous. What matters is that you use the same metrics. If we did so then inflation rates from the past would look much smaller, and therefore we would get more concerned when running 2% inflation.Brian Mackerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10186974009384447015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-27692341754520449182010-01-02T14:57:45.447-05:002010-01-02T14:57:45.447-05:00If the U.S. went through a hyperinflation like tha...<i>If the U.S. went through a hyperinflation like that of Zimbabwe’s, total U.S. federal debt and obligations (roughly $75 trillion with unfunded liabilities) could be paid off for much less than a current penny.</i><br /><br />OK, this I don't get. The unfunded liabilities are estimates of what future costs will be incurred under entitlement programs (primarily, anyway). The problem with saying that if hyperinflation comes, these unfunded liabilities will be devalued down to a current penny, is that those unfunded liabilities will have to be paid in hyperinflated dollars, no? Doctors treating Medicare patients aren't going to ask for, e.g., $100/office visit (today's price), they will ask for $100,000,000 in hyperinflated dollars, won't they?<br /><br />For other debt that's already incurred under specific pricing, I can see the attraction for hyperinflation, but that doesn't seem to touch the unfunded liabilities portion (which is of course, the larger). To be able to generate tax revenues sufficient to pay off those unfunded liabilities, the US needs a sound economy. Yes, I have my doubts about this actually being the case, but I just don't think the hyperinflation scenario does anything more than solve the smaller of the two debt problems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-35555302052856338302010-01-02T12:45:13.271-05:002010-01-02T12:45:13.271-05:00A Jacksonian hit the nail on the head.
What peop...A Jacksonian hit the nail on the head. <br /><br />What people (especially the America hating "cheerleaders" of the radical left) do not seem to realize is that if the US goes down the rest of the world goes with us. The last time the world faced a situation such as this was back in the 14th century with the collapse of the Venetian & Tuscan banks. The time before was with the collapse of the Roman empire. Thanks to globalization it will affect just about everyone in the world, the only exception will be isolated tribes who have little to no contact with the "modern world".<br /><br />Global trade is already in a coma. Look at the numbers on the Baltic Dry Index and http://railfax.transmatch.com/. <br /><br />The only items that are still doing well are grains, partially because the Obama administration sold our grain reserves to China in May leaving our cupboard bare.Nahannihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01794735154506829829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-60067114848619010692010-01-02T11:48:54.603-05:002010-01-02T11:48:54.603-05:00And then there is the problem that China has creat...And then there is the problem that <a href="http://ajacksonian.blogspot.com/2009/10/emergency-government.html" rel="nofollow">China has created</a>. Lets say you take a bunch of Non-Performing Loans, bundle them up and give them a 'secure' rating and float them out into the financial stream. Sounds like the US home loan market, no? But what if this is done for the commercial and industrial market? We are about to find out what happens when this little problem that is <a href="http://ajacksonian.blogspot.com/2007/02/directivity-of-china.html" rel="nofollow">known about for some time</a> starts to hit the fan when China can't refloat those loan vehicles for a third time.<br /><br />If Japan having 10% of its GDP based on NPLs going into its late '80s decline is 'bad', then what happens when 30-60% of a Nation's GDP is based on such things? Because China saw the hocus-pocus the US was pulling with home loan repackaging, they did the same thing with industrial and commercial loans. Like the US government China now has a lot of money out as promises that it can't cover. And because China invested so heavily in the stability of the US home mortgage holdings, what happens when those get evaporated due to hyperinflation or, indeed, any downturn that changes the value of those holdings?<br /><br />The US doesn't have to implode to bring the global trade system down... just cause China to do so and that will ripple globally, too, being the #2 economy on the planet. No one really expected the late Bronze Age civilizations to fall when Troy went down: it was not a major Empire. Yet it was a hub of trade and its security ensured safe trade...and when it went the security went, trade died and Empires fell. If the US contracts in a major fashion then China implodes and there goes the trade system as the concept of 'safe haven' for funds disappears. Without safety investments go hard, and getting a 'return on investment' means keeping your value steady... if you can.A Jacksonianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07607888697879327120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034478.post-65488716688113091172010-01-02T00:45:12.351-05:002010-01-02T00:45:12.351-05:00So, while ascribing entirely nefarious purposes to...So, while ascribing entirely nefarious purposes to the adjusted changes to calculating government statistics, John Williams accepts the old measures as handed down on stone tablets.<br /><br />Oh, really? The same people who developed the old measures also developed the new measures. This is a continuous process of improvement.fbonesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05636200338746518234noreply@blogger.com