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San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

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31–40 of 67 posts

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#31
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cities can’t print money

I’m not an expert in this area but I don’t think the fed funds operations by printing money. They issue debt which people exchange for money. Although lately the fed just buys that debt back with printed money so...

They create money via debit issuance. You’re not wrong, but they in fact just created 3T+ dollars that kinda went everywhere unaccounted for.

It’s just easier to say they can print money because the common man doesn’t quite understand how debt translates into new money.

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#32
post #20
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cities can’t print money

Didn't the Fed say it will buy up to $500B of municipal bonds as part of the new QE program?

Not sure, but the Fed is still in control here. They will buy as they see fit. Where as SF would almost certainly love to issue themselves some debt to pay these bills right now.

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#33
post #21

CA has always been about boom and busts. Governor Brown knew this and kept a tight fist on the purse strings... to the chagrin and annoyance of the “we’re rich, let’s spend” crowd. If it were not for his fiscal conservatism it’s be even worse. Of course SF is the poster child for spending copious amounts of money on pet projects while ignoring the big issues.

CA’s booms and busts now, for the state and city governments, is almost purely centered around Prop 13. The NIMBYs won. Unless you have owned a home for decades and have insanely low property taxes it’s extremely hard to weather these cycles. NIMBYs gain from the booms, and relax during the busts.

And as a result of Prop 13 the state relies heavily on income taxes, when people leave or lose their jobs there goes the state income.

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#34

San Fran is a bizarre place. I'm an Aussie, an Americanophile, and I was in the States for months last year. San Fran was simply unpleasant - the people were rude (young and old) and everything cost too much. The taxes were insane too. I couldn't bear to live there - Salt Lake City seemed to have the most similar upsides with next to none of the downsides.

> San Fran was simply unpleasant - the people were rude (young and old) and everything cost too much. The taxes were insane too.

Tangential, but I feel the same way about NYC. I have lived in SF for ~3 years and have now been in NYC for ~4 years. I guess cities, that are HCOL, tend to exacerbate the (low and high income) class disparities, and maybe also heighten residents' stress and reduce their patience levels?

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#36
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not an expert in this area but I don’t think the fed funds operations by printing money. They issue debt which people exchange for money. Although lately the fed just buys that debt back with printed money so...

They create money via debit issuance. You’re not wrong, but they in fact just created 3T+ dollars that kinda went everywhere unaccounted for. It’s just easier to say they can print money because the common man doesn’t quite understand how debt translates into new money.

You're like halfway through the expanding-brain meme. It ends with 'actually, they just add a few zeroes to a few balance sheets, printers don't need to be involved'. All this theory around debt is a rationalization of the money printer.

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#37

San Fran is a bizarre place. I'm an Aussie, an Americanophile, and I was in the States for months last year. San Fran was simply unpleasant - the people were rude (young and old) and everything cost too much. The taxes were insane too. I couldn't bear to live there - Salt Lake City seemed to have the most similar upsides with next to none of the downsides.

>"I couldn't bear to live there - Salt Lake City seemed to have the most similar upsides with next to none of the downsides."

SLC seems nice in theory, until you realize Utah is a theocracy. Not a great place to live for anyone outside the LDS church.

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#38
post #36
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They create money via debit issuance. You’re not wrong, but they in fact just created 3T+ dollars that kinda went everywhere unaccounted for. It’s just easier to say they can print money because the common man doesn’t quite understand how debt translates into new money.

You're like halfway through the expanding-brain meme. It ends with 'actually, they just add a few zeroes to a few balance sheets, printers don't need to be involved'. All this theory around debt is a rationalization of the money printer.

Haha o/

Re: San Francisco faces fiscal chaos

#39
post #17
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There they have the sexy underwear in Utah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment I used to live in the US, but I'm back home in Germany. I have 0 interest in going back.

LDS has some weird and deeply problematic traditions but this is just religious bigotry and elitism. The Catholic Church is known for being an international pedophile ring but we don't shame Parisians for being Catholic. Check yourself.

We can't poke fun at a religion because other religions are also worthy of it? Why not poke fun at all of them?
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