General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDonald Trump just threatened to cause an unprecedented global financial crisis
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/6/11607464/trump-haircut-default-debtBut he replaced fearmongering about debt with an even more alarming notion a bankruptcy of the United States federal government that would incinerate the world economy.
"I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal," Trump said. "And if the economy was good, it was good. So therefore, you can't lose."
With his statement, Trump not only revealed a dangerous ignorance about the operation of the national monetary system and the global economic order, but also offered a brilliant case study in the profound risks of attempting to apply the logic of a private business enterprise to the task of running the United States of America.
Gomez163
(2,039 posts)call off the FBI dogs off Hillary.
gordianot
(15,243 posts)Disaster bankruptcy sided economics
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)He really does not live in the real world.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Small hands, you know.
One of our current mayoral candidates' anecdotes is how he lost the school treasurer job he held his freshman year, because he gave a detailed policy speech while his opponent ran into the auditorium in the school mascot uniform, tossing candy to everyone, and promised free stuff to everyone. Hmm. I don't think that has anything to do with anything, but...
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)I would love to see some of the media take Obama's suggestion and point out the type of disaster that would lead to.
MowCowWhoHow III
(2,103 posts)pampango
(24,692 posts)Bernie wants to make it better.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)And this is why we don't need another businessman (like Dumbya) in the WH. Why don't people see this?
Hekate
(90,793 posts)We're in the primaries. The GOP primary is done. Trump is set.
Our battle is still being decided so yes, debating and protesting each other at this point in time, is appropriate.
Zynx
(21,328 posts)Protests like this can only be harmful in establishing resentment.
That "math" you guys keep throwing around is hilarious.
http://www.feelthemath.org/
Zynx
(21,328 posts)41%. Even though he'll do better in the remaining primaries than that, it won't be by that much. Besides, he's behind in California right now and voting there starts soon.
I'd be willing to bet just about everything that I have that he doesn't even come close to 65% in CA. Hell, I'd be a little surprised if he broke 50% there.
Jeffersons Ghost
(15,235 posts)but they like punctuation; especially exotic uses. In the future, will all online news articles have spelling and punctuation errors? I wonder why no one [other US Federal Agents] attempts to create [code] problems for enemies of freedom.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)"...a largely Latino crowd in Monterey Park, where Union del Barrio organized a protest against Clinton over her immigration policies and opposition to a national $15 hourly minimum wage"
The headline is just plain wrong.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I can't believe this guy might actually become the POTUS. I really can't.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)States.
The Harriet Tubman argument will be over, as we can simply replace the face on all our bills with a clown.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)sovereign debt restructuring,
https://www.cigionline.org/articles/imfs-debt-restructuring
Believe it or not, that is exactly what Trump is talking about. And it is great to destroy things like social security and other safety nets. See Greece for a dramatic example in the modern period.
Yeah, read a couple pieces, and that is precisely what Trump is talking about. It is scary as hell, but not that far fetched. And yes it would do incredible damage to the economy.
elmac
(4,642 posts)Wait!, Their already in control. Guess a bankruptcy wouldn't be so bad after all.
It doesn't matter if trump or whoever gets voted in as long as the rich elite are in control we all, as the 99%, are screwed.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)dollars in their choice of bank$ter accounts.
We are the sole manufacturer of said dollar, something we do by adding zeroes to a computer. We can never run out. We cannot "go bankrupt". We can inflate the amount or deflate it, but it's just zeroes. Also, I think there is a note somewhere that says we have to pay our bills, cannot go bankrupt. In the constitution, perhaps?
MMT at http://cas.umkc.edu/economics/
https://cas.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultyPages/wray/courses/Econ601%202012/readings/Mehrling%20Fiat.pdf
Understanding Modern Money: The Key to Full Employment and Price Stability - L. Randall Wray (1998)
It's not the kitchen cookie jar theory of economics, in which there is an "empty" or broke that most seem to refer to, but it is a treatise on modern methods of money and its use by this government.
There are docs and some videos of Federal Reserve folks, as well as others, offering this same theory, and it does explain what we do since we no longer base it on shiny metal.
...
there is 0% chance that the US will be forced to default on the debt.
We could choose to do so, just as a person trapped in a warehouse full of food could choose to starve, but we could never be forced to. This is not a theory or conjecture, it is cold, hard fact. The reason the US could never be forced to default is that every single bit of the debt is owed in the currency that we and only we can issue: dollars. Unlike Greece, we dont have to try to earn foreign exchange via exports or beg for better terms. There is simply no level of debt we could not repay with a keystroke.
...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2012/09/10/impossible-to-default/#3abd5bc75744
With other folks that talk about money.
No one knows how far we can inflatedeflate this bscheme which, since we aren't really providing the world with a bunch of knowledge or product that they can't get elsewhere, seems no longer based on anything except inertia and power. That seems to me to be extremely vulnerable to another country investing in knowledge and the future.