Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
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Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#2Tom Clancy used this as the catalyst for one of his many techno war stories - something along the lines of “if you piss off your creditors they won’t give you any more money”. Think it was bear and dragon, the China Russia war. Debt is sold, and the purchaser’s willingness to buy sets the interest rate. And they don’t like uncertainty.
The us detached itself from the world after ww I and it seems to want to do it again. The tariffs might recapitulate the 30’s but that decade didn’t turn out well at all. So I hope the historical behaviour breaks down first.
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#3Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#4Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#5Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.
I came to the comments to say exactly this. I think the reason is a combination of incompetence, ignorance, and greed.
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#6Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.
It's because it's not worth the expense. Vanity is a hell of a drug, but it has its limits.
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#7Lol, the US deficits are what sustains the production of demand stricken surplus economies. Everything that has happened is the ultimate result of surplus countries doubling down on mercantalist investment than growing internal consumption.
If a rebalancing were to occur, it is the surplus countries hit with mass unemployment that will hurt much more than deficit countries that can move production back at a much quicker pace. The author is making the mistake of viewing tings from a supply side perspective when given excessive reliance on investment and high savings the world is constrained by chronic underconsumption.
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#8Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.
I think the US is giving up control willingly and turning more isolationist. It has been building for some time but I do not thing it is forced. It is a deliberate policy shift turning away from trying to control and police the world. America is pushed in and on to other countries and societies that a retraction might be the best thing
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#9The real problem is not the US no longer being the influence it was for "the west" (to simplify). The real problem is, what takes the space the US previously filled and still partly/mostly fills.
The US are by no means innocent of terrorism and invasion of other countries, but at least with countries commonly counted as "the west", the US was a friendly nation. If we have the likes of terrorist states like Russia taking over, then we got some very dark times ahead of us.
Even worse, if the right wing and right extreme talking points and policies in the US don't stop, we might face the (still) strongest military on the planet becoming the arm of a fascist state. It might even get worse than the WW2, since the US military is probably more superior compared to almost any other nation on the planet, than Nazi Germany's military was, and already has presence in basically all parts of the world, plus the logistics.
So lets hope that the current period of idiocy ends soon, and we can get back to peaceful international relations, with a sane US leadership, instead of one, that seemingly seeks to tear down as many bridges as possible. However, we are only in year one (!) of the current US government, so we will probably have to hold out breath a little longer, and Europe will have to rely on itself.
Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'
#10Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.
Trump's project is to turn the US into a playground for oligarchs such as himself, like in Putin's Russia. It doesn't matter if the US becomes way poorer and weaker in the process. "Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven".