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Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

economictimes.indiatimes.com

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Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#251

Post by manuelmoreale »

lazide wrote: post #179
manuelmoreale wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everything is politics. Everything you want to be politics is politics. Caring for other people shouldn't be politics. Being a decent human being shouldn't be politics. There are plenty of things that aren't politics unless you decide you want to turn them into politics.

The issue is when you get down to the edge cases, you get into politics again. Is ‘caring’ (what does that mean exactly?) for someone on death row good or bad? You’ll likely find splits in answers along ‘political’ lines, especially depending on things like the nature of the crime, who the victim was, etc. Is ‘caring’ (again, in what way?) for someone in Palestine good or bad? Or worth how much money to do? Similar s…

> ‘caring’ (what does that mean exactly?)

caring: (adjective) displaying kindness and concern for others.

If you look at this definition of caring and find a way to turn it into a politics issue that's your problem, not mine.

If you scale a problem up, then yes, you get into politics. If you scale it all the way down, politics disappear. If you see your next-door neighbor struggling with something and you can help, you should. That's not politics. That's called being a decent human being.

> Hand wavy general statements are easy to have

I agree. In fact "everything is politics" is a stupid, hand wavy statement.

> You’ll also find lots of shaming among the group and against ‘outsiders’ trying to enforce idealogy. And if you think that part doesn’t happen, just read your own comment - it’s a mild form of that!

Disagreement != enforcing ideology, at least in my world. And if you don't see it that way, then I guess you're guilty of doing the precise thing you're commenting on.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#252

Post by [deleted] »

aloha2436 wrote: post #26

America was in practice running an empire that collected tribute from the rest of planet earth in exchange for entries in a database denominated in a currency they controlled and that was accepted everywhere. Really the only way it could go wrong is putting it under the control of someone who doesn't understand the kayfabe...

[deleted]

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#253

Post by rwmj »

simmerup wrote: post #145
rwmj wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative is everything falling apart at home and our manufacturing industries declining dramatically. Maybe the "unpopular economic policy" wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The people that voted for Brexit aren't affected by any of that. In fact, they're so protected they'd probably prefer a recession.

It's true, pensioners are very isolated from the problems of working people.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#254

Post by tasuki »

dannyfritz07 wrote: post #186
tasuki wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ending welfare as we know it > That attack on labor How is ending welfare an "attack on labor"? (I live in a welfare state and am quite happy about it, despite it having very real financial consequences for me. Welfare state does not benefit "labor", but rather benefits the various people who either can't or don't want to perform labor)

Why do laborers have to work for the right to live when capitalists only have to provide capital and are always assumed to be worthy? Capital and labor is combined to produce new capital. Yet we only expect labor to prove their worth. We're always holding labor's feet to the fire and killing them through policy that allows their poverty by assuming they are lazy. There is basically zero consequence for capitalists wh…

> Why do laborers have to work for the right to live

I don't know why, but this is sort of the definition of a laborer, no? Someone who labors.

People who live on welfare are – by definition – not laborers. That was my whole point: "ending welfare" is not "an attack on labor", it's an attack on non-labor.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#255

Post by skippyboxedhero »

the_gipsy wrote: post #216
skippyboxedhero wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not aware of what happened in the 70s then with Bretton Woods? Not aware of what happened pre-08? It has gone wrong multiple times before just for the US and the US exporting inflation is not good for either the US or the rest of the world. As with NATO, I am not sure what the argument is...yes, other countries should take more of a role in their own defence...yes, other countries should take more of a role in their…

gibberish

Nope, just economic history.

People think the "new thing" is new...this has happened many times before. Macro tourists come in and think ten minutes with ChatGPT has turned them into an economist. Basic knowledge.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#256

Post by lazide »

manuelmoreale wrote: post #251
lazide wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is when you get down to the edge cases, you get into politics again. Is ‘caring’ (what does that mean exactly?) for someone on death row good or bad? You’ll likely find splits in answers along ‘political’ lines, especially depending on things like the nature of the crime, who the victim was, etc. Is ‘caring’ (again, in what way?) for someone in Palestine good or bad? Or worth how much money to do? Similar s…

> ‘caring’ (what does that mean exactly?) caring: (adjective) displaying kindness and concern for others. If you look at this definition of caring and find a way to turn it into a politics issue that's your problem, not mine. If you scale a problem up, then yes, you get into politics. If you scale it all the way down, politics disappear. If you see your next-door neighbor struggling with something and you can help, y…

Under that definition, ‘Caring’ can mean anything from hopes and prayers to major economic sacrifices.

With that struggling neighbor, are you talking about helping them take out their trash at night when they’re tired - or paying unemployment benefits for years?

Notably, in my experience, the ones who talk the most usually just keep talking - and aren’t the ones on the hook for actually doing the hard caregiving when things are really tough. But hey, maybe you’re different?

One big difference we have here is you’re again talking hand waving generalities, and I’m talking concrete economic behaviors and policy. It’s easy to say ‘if you can help you should’, it’s harder when it’s ’where is the line for “can” and “should” exactly when we’re talking millions of people and trillions of dollars’, and people you’ll likely never meet in your life - and taxes that definitely come out of your paycheck each month.

Move the line too much one way, and it incentivizes being a victim. Move it too much the other way, and it crushes people with legitimate problems. Both are real issues.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#257

Post by rvba »

ETH_start wrote: post #71
SilverElfin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a self decapitation exactly. I think Trump, his family, his corporate donors, and other friends are all willing to sacrifice everyone else - including the lead America had - to make themselves rich and powerful. Every single decision to spend - defense, ICE contracts, AI, approvals of anticompetitive acquisitions, changes to regulations, etc - is making that circle richer at our expense. They don’t care if A…

The US lead over the EU in per capita productivity has massively grown over the last 20 years. There's no indication of waning American power. America has produced 70 times more stock market wealth if you look only at companies created within the last 50 years than the EU. And this is not all paper wealth. If you look at technological sophistication, whether that's frontier AI models, leading-edge pharmaceutical drug…

1) USA's stock rose on the back of dollar being the reseve currency. It will fall when not anymore

2) Germany lost nuclear power plants due to russia sponsored interference

The same russia that supported Brexit

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#258

Post by fnordpiglet »

BobbyJo wrote: post #77
fnordpiglet wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lives a day to day life, I’m pretty happy for things that are good for my day to day life. Some abstract quasi moralistic reason that things should be tougher so we compete harder feels a little out of touch. I’d note that it’s not the case the US produces nothing, or that it’s lost its capacity to innovate. Effectively most technology, especially software, but hardware as well, is concentrated in the…

> Some abstract quasi moralistic reason that things should be tougher so we compete harder feels a little out of touch. I don't see how any of those descriptions fit what I've said. Also, note, things should indeed not be tougher. A consequence of our economy being so focused on financialization of overseas productivity is that the wealth created from that activity tends to be much more concentrated than that produce…

I think the way you phrased your point was quasi moralistic - perhaps not intentionally.

However I’d note that the economic theory of comparative advantage says the rational move is countries and states and cities specialize in what they have a comparative advantage in and by doing so the entire system becomes optimal. Everyone trying to be self sufficient within themselves, and the absurdity of the trade imbalance as a measure, is grossly inefficient for everyone and pulls the entire planet down. Obviously this doesn’t account for instability, but it does explain why our economy has focused in areas we have a comparative advantage while depending on other economies for theirs. This is a feature of modern economic theory, but perhaps has flaws in practical political senses.

Bessent is a complete idiot who equates having money with intellectual supremacy. He’s a sociopath in real life, a sycophant in political life, and a moron who does well following orders of someone smarter than him. He was successful at other people’s funds but when he started his own he totally flopped. He has a gentleman’s degree is political science from Yale, and his uncle was convicted of corruption and spent time in prison while in the US House of Representatives- demonstrating the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. See his corruption regarding mortgages and investment properties for proof.

I do agree we had been dismantling our advantages for a while, but what I said was Trump lit them on fire. In a little over a year every structural advantage the US has enjoyed post WWII is gone and we are hated by allies and enemies alike. We have no leverage with anyone on anything, everyone who might have let us have advantage is seeking a backstop away from us, and any sense we had engendered as a place for people to come to pursue opportunity is gone. We’ve dismantled institutions that took generations to build in months, and eliminated all good will across the planet with literally every human being that uses fossil fuels in any way. This is the most breathtakingly destructive frittering away of advantage for zero gains I could imagine short of simply declaring nuclear war on ourselves.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#259

Post by rvba »

ETH_start wrote: post #245
mnicky wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Averages tell nothing about an average citizen. Also, there are other measurements like inequality, healthcare cost, social securities...

Averages tell us the general availability of wealth. To give you some perspective, most European countries are poorer than the poorest U.S. state, which is Mississippi. There just aren't as many high-paying jobs. And these figures encompass everything, including what the government spends on health care and welfare programs and education. So Europeans as a whole get much less per capita from both government and priva…

Avetage tells nothing you should use median or a graph.

Re: Gold overtakes U.S. Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset

#260

Post by rvba »

ETH_start wrote: post #151
whatever1 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Azure/AWS/Google/FB sell as well in China as well it does in the EU? They sell close to 0. Europe made a conscious decision to not limit the reach of the infinite margin US companies. The deal was we buy your fancy services and expensive war toys, but you keep us safe. America forgot its obligation. Hence the deal is off. Now VW is making war machines and Airbus is building AI infra.

Even if US companies only had the US market, they'd be massive — Google gets ~50% of its revenue from the US alone, Amazon over 60% from North America, and most other Big Tech is in that same range. The US market by itself is plenty huge. And the EU provides 20-30% of US Big Tech revenue. Even losing all of that (very unlikely even under protectionist policies), US tech companies would be doing well, with 70-80% of t…

You write as if Trump did not put tariffs on european exports to US.

Europe could put same tariffs on USA services and the margins in USA will disappear

It's like you see but ignore what the other poster said. Europe allowed US services to grow, but it can stop them too. Same way China does.

Funny how you write about 50% market share being USA, when the other poster writes about the other part. That might dissappear.

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