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The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

nytimes.com

41–50 of 109 posts

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#41

I've been saying this for 5 years straight. I explained in great detail what was wrong and how to fix it but was suppressed on social media. Now that it has become obvious that I was right all along, I'm still suppressed and those who created the problem and suppressed me have the largest following they've ever had as they lead us all deeper and deeper into the catastrophe.

what is the solution?

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#42
post #37
post #11

It's easy to solve the debt crisis. Just cancel the debts. The issue these countries have is they lost their sovereignty by getting into debt in a currency they don't control. Going into debt in a foreign currency means you lose sovereignty. Better issue more money in your own currency and risk inflation instead of lose sovereignty. Because the most important thing for a state is to make sure it does what it promises…

> Debts just need to be cancelled. It's AFAIK that's unconstitutional in the US at least.

Which part of the US Constitution does cancelling Argentine debts fall afoul of?

Cancelling US debt without consent of the lenders would likely be unconstitutional, but the article seemed to be discussing IMF loans, and I don't think the US has taken any of those.

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#43
post #33
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Timing was pretty bang on if you consider Jan 6th as a turning point of all the things happening around that same time-frame, the Jan 6th events seem to have been some of the least impactful, aside from just being a huge talking point in these type of "world is decaying" conversations the media decided to report on that event in such a way as to draw more outrage than the other stuff -- but looking back the other st…

It's unfair to compare the single event on January 6th with every BLM protest, or every state's implementation of lockdown and the resulting clashes, etc. I'm appalled by January 6th because the representative for my district accepted his win in the November elections, went to D.C., and then voted to throw out all votes for my state as being dubious. The riot, building-storming, and literal lynch mob were the natural…

What state are you from? January 6 didn’t register for me at all, and I grew up in the area and work in DC. I grew up in Virginia, with a very Jefferson heavy curriculum. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” and whatnot. I wonder if that has something to do with it.

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#44

> “Every country has adopted a bankruptcy law,” said Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank, “but internationally we don’t have one.” The United States, though, has repeatedly opposed the idea, saying it is unnecessary. I don't know when the US said it's unnecessary, but it certainly is unfeasible. Normally, when you are not solvent, you go to a bankruptcy court. The deal is that you accept the c…

Internationally binding arbitration does exist and is written into trade agreements regularly, e.g. ISDS.

As long as the disputes are small enough to not call into question the entire trade agreement/framework, you can have a backstop that makes this enforceable. The countries that are signatories agree to comply with the decisions so that they remain in good standing wrt the trade agreements.

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#45
post #22

Right now incentives are misaligned. Politicians have no incentive to be responsible with the money. Time to implement Warren Buffett's proposal: passing a law that says anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. This would realign incentives - politicians who seek power will need to be fiscally responsible to attain it.

Why do people think that running the country like how Elon has tired to run Twitter is a good idea?

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#46
post #44

> “Every country has adopted a bankruptcy law,” said Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank, “but internationally we don’t have one.” The United States, though, has repeatedly opposed the idea, saying it is unnecessary. I don't know when the US said it's unnecessary, but it certainly is unfeasible. Normally, when you are not solvent, you go to a bankruptcy court. The deal is that you accept the c…

Internationally binding arbitration does exist and is written into trade agreements regularly, e.g. ISDS. As long as the disputes are small enough to not call into question the entire trade agreement/framework, you can have a backstop that makes this enforceable. The countries that are signatories agree to comply with the decisions so that they remain in good standing wrt the trade agreements.

Ok, fair enough. But here we are talking about sovereign defaults. They are not small.

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you consider January 6 protests to be the turning point specifically? It was neither particularly violent nor a first regarding violation of norms. There was no attempt at rallying armed forces in a coup d’etat. Could just as well consider something like the Tea Party circa 2010 a turning point in separatism. For the modern era, at least.

Mobs of people storming the Capitol is a violation of norms. Are you sure you are okay?

This is America. This shit happens. A mob just tried to storm the White House last month: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-771751. The Capitol just happens to have no real security (it never had—my wife used to sneak into the Congressional subway system all the time). It’s been bombed at least twice.

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#48
post #14
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It was neither particularly violent Wow. I know perhaps this makes sense from a non-American perspective, but as an American, January 6 was incredibly violent. I think some people forget that this isn't normal .

I am an American and I don’t think it was particularly violet. There were 4 deaths. Not 400 or 40 (not like I wanted there to be more). But pearl clutching over some people protesting where they shouldn’t have when Congress wasn’t in session is just silly.

violent != deadly?

seemed pretty violent at times, but it wasn't deadly

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#49
post #11

It's easy to solve the debt crisis. Just cancel the debts. The issue these countries have is they lost their sovereignty by getting into debt in a currency they don't control. Going into debt in a foreign currency means you lose sovereignty. Better issue more money in your own currency and risk inflation instead of lose sovereignty. Because the most important thing for a state is to make sure it does what it promises…

The US doesn't need to cancel any debts that are denominated in dollars--which means all of the debt that is causing all the ruckus. The US can print dollars. That amounts to devaluing the debt, i.e., it favors debtors at the expense of creditors. Historically, that is exactly how the US has dealt with its debt once it went off the gold standard and dollars were purely fiat money.

Re: The debt problem is enormous, and the system for fixing it is broken

#50
post #22

Right now incentives are misaligned. Politicians have no incentive to be responsible with the money. Time to implement Warren Buffett's proposal: passing a law that says anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. This would realign incentives - politicians who seek power will need to be fiscally responsible to attain it.

Seems pretty braindead. They are the ones who pass the laws, so nothing would stop them from passing another law to undo it.

Such a scheme (which I don’t think would be workable in any case) could only bind Congress if it were an amendment to the constitution.
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