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Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

fortune.com

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Re: Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

#5
Congress-people have few incentives to restrain or reduce the national debt. There is plenty of talk, but little action. The event horizon may be distant, but the pull is inexorable. What could possibly solve this? Could we give representatives and senators bonuses for spending less and taxing more?

Re: Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

#7
post #5

Congress-people have few incentives to restrain or reduce the national debt. There is plenty of talk, but little action. The event horizon may be distant, but the pull is inexorable. What could possibly solve this? Could we give representatives and senators bonuses for spending less and taxing more?

Not sure about that solution, but we could elect representation that does the right thing(s), and not just the thing(s) that get them reelected.

Re: Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

#8
post #5

Congress-people have few incentives to restrain or reduce the national debt. There is plenty of talk, but little action. The event horizon may be distant, but the pull is inexorable. What could possibly solve this? Could we give representatives and senators bonuses for spending less and taxing more?

Not sure about that solution, but we could elect representation that does the right thing(s), and not just the thing(s) that get them reelected.

I don’t know the answer to this question, but would removing the ability to be reelected cause a change in the equilibrium?

Re: Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

#9

Isn't the "miracle" just a persistent unexpectedly higher level of inflation, over a long period of time, doing a soft-default and screwing over long bongholders? That seems like the most painless way out.

it's not painless because it exacerbates income inequality. Remember, debt holders (especially those leveraged into assets with debt) benefit from monetary inflation.

If you factor in equities that hold debt, the upper class actually holds more debt than the lower class, especially per capita.

Re: Nassim Taleb says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt

#10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about that solution, but we could elect representation that does the right thing(s), and not just the thing(s) that get them reelected.

I don’t know the answer to this question, but would removing the ability to be reelected cause a change in the equilibrium?

No, if anything it would likely make things worse as people try to maximize their out of office job the same way SEC officials end up at big banks.

The advantage of “professional” politicians is they can be held accountable. Unfortunately, the general public rarely actually does so.

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