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The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

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Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#151

Post by nemothekid »

RhodoYolo wrote: post #110
birdyrooster wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth inequality is a problem you can’t fix by reducing the income of the poor.

I never said that or really proposed a solution, simply stated a problem as i saw it - Which makes sense why i got downvoted. I don't really know the answer with minimum wage but i tend to lean more 'darwinistic' in my philisophies. I wish there was more inherent economic incentive, where everyones salary was more closely tied to their contribution and efforts but I guess thats too much to ask for in this world where…

>I wish there was more inherent economic incentive, where everyones salary was more closely tied to their contribution and efforts but I guess thats too much to ask for in this world where non performers and non-productive members of society are given this 'unalienable right' to live off the products of society just for being human.

It's hard to parse what you are asking for - what more economic incentive would you imagine there to be; I think the problem with this line of thinking is that you are taking a far too simplistic model of the world where our problems are caused by people being "lazy". I think the world you are wishing for existed - it's probably the hunter/gatherer model; any more sophisticated organization of civilization requires some level of socialization. I think your "darwinistic" approach is a flawed philosophy upon which it build a nation or a global superpower.

It's interesting because the article posits, and makes a very good case for, systemic issues that has caused the erosion of manufacturing base - however politically we are unable to move beyond simply understood talking points such as "minimum wage".

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#152

Post by cheaprentalyeti »

api wrote: post #10
economusty wrote: post #4

How much debt can we accumulate before entities stop buying our bonds and treasuries?

Everyone else is accumulating debt too. To escape a bear, you just need to run faster than everyone else not faster than the bear.

Since China actually manufactures stuff they'll accumulate debt slower. The US is more likely to be eaten by the bear.

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#153

Post by cheaprentalyeti »

cheaprentalyeti wrote: post #152
api wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone else is accumulating debt too. To escape a bear, you just need to run faster than everyone else not faster than the bear.

Since China actually manufactures stuff they'll accumulate debt slower. The US is more likely to be eaten by the bear.

Postscript: the abandonment of manufacturing, among other things, has really impacted race relations and class relations and pushed the US into a pre-revolutionary condition, which outside actors can use to further damage what's left of US manufacturing.

I think the US Dollar is going to crash.

You can't say this in polite society, or silicon valley, but you can say to invest in Bitcoin because it's a superior ponzi scheme to all the rest.

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#154

Post by coolgod »

lettergram wrote: post #49
CoffeeDregs wrote: post #12

"Instead of drawing down our gold reserves, however, we gradually draw down our domestic manufacturing base and it gets replaced piece-by-piece in foreign countries." To me, this is the money shot. I hadn't seen this expressed before and it makes perfect sense. I'm baffled that we (the US) caused this to happen to the US. I'm (unhappily) registered Republican but I argued vociferously to a Dem friend in 2000 that our…

My father was one of the last tool makers in the US working for Molex. They spent years teaching the Chinese, the Chinese would disassemble all molds sent over to China and often break them, so my fathers team would have to fix / rebuild them. They spent years training the Chinese side-by-side in the US. In the end they still haven’t exactly caught up to the quality we had in the US. However, they now have 5x the too…

> In the end they still haven’t exactly caught up to the quality we had in the US.

Arrogance, this is one of the factors that killed US manufacturing.

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#155

Post by oa335 »

etothepii wrote: post #27

"From there, paper currency and credit was added as a more convenient layer onto gold." It's not a universally accepted opinion but I take Martin Felix's view, articulated in "Money," that credit predates coinage. It's turned me off the article and as a consequence I can't read any more.

David Graebers book “Debt” also argues, successfully in my opinion, that credit predates coinage. The first written documents from Sumeria support this view.

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#156

Post by cloudinshape »

birdyrooster wrote: post #98
RhodoYolo wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think the 19th century is a good anecdote for what would happen nowadays? Setting minimum wage seems to create this standard that may do more harm than good. Increasing the 'standard' harms the 'middle-class' and this 'standard' may set the wages lower than entitled per job.

Wealth inequality is a problem you can’t fix by reducing the income of the poor.

Which is exactly the problem: wealth inequality can't be solved by fixing wages.

Asian or "factory" countries (not necessarily from Asia but for illustration) have an "artificially" held minimum wage, which indirectly subsidizes the US minimum wage. This is happening to all wages not just minimum wages mind you, so the market needs rebalancing. Wages need rebalancing, taxes need rebalancing, but most wages, including the minimum wage need to come down (in real terms not necessarily in fiat terms).

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#157

Post by raziel2701 »

silexia wrote: post #143
kqr2 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If so, assets such as global equities, quality residential real estate, precious metals, industrial commodities, and alternatives such as Bitcoin, are likely to do well. Do you plan on shifting your investment strategy?

I don't like Bitcoin and I disagree with Alden on that in investment. I am also not a fan of precious metals. I currently have the majority of my portfolio in stocks in Australia, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland; in residential real estate, and in puts on overvalued tech stocks and TLT.

You're shorting TLT? The Fed is on the other side of that bet, I dare not go against the Fed.

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#158

Post by southeastern »

lettergram wrote: post #49
CoffeeDregs wrote: post #12

"Instead of drawing down our gold reserves, however, we gradually draw down our domestic manufacturing base and it gets replaced piece-by-piece in foreign countries." To me, this is the money shot. I hadn't seen this expressed before and it makes perfect sense. I'm baffled that we (the US) caused this to happen to the US. I'm (unhappily) registered Republican but I argued vociferously to a Dem friend in 2000 that our…

My father was one of the last tool makers in the US working for Molex. They spent years teaching the Chinese, the Chinese would disassemble all molds sent over to China and often break them, so my fathers team would have to fix / rebuild them. They spent years training the Chinese side-by-side in the US. In the end they still haven’t exactly caught up to the quality we had in the US. However, they now have 5x the too…

>You either let free people work for what ever wage they can achieve or we risk becoming slaves ourselves.

Minimum wage already isn't really a living wage in much of the country. Rolling back regulations is jumping headfirst into slavery, whereas.. I'm very critical of China but don't see the connection between their expanding industry and slavery. Businesses are diversifying their supply chain in the face of this pandemic.

Re: The fraying of the U.S. global currency reserve system

#160

Post by raziel2701 »

aflessner wrote: post #116

Are macro-economic forecasts generally accurate? It is my understanding that they are not very good generally speaking. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/edward...

I'm sure there's some good macroeconomists that get paid bags of money to be on the right side of the fence. They would not be dispensing their predictions for free.
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