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Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

reuters.com

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Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#691

Post by davesque »

kevin061 wrote: post #214
im3w1l wrote: post #196

This sundering of US-European relationship feels like watching a trainwreck in slowmotion. It's all so stupid and avoidable. Is there really nothing that can be done?

Democracy. The people have spoken. Americans wanted this.

Can people quit with this stupid argument? A thin majority of Americans voted for this during the election. If you follow the polls, the vast majority of American currently don't want this. Just stop with this "dumb Americans" dur dur nonsense. Those of us who have our heads screwed on straight are so sick of being blamed for this. The same thing could happen at any time in any country.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#692

Post by alwillis »

everyone wrote: post #618
epistasis wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is precisely it. People in the US have been living with the insanity of Trump for so long that they have become numb to it, and don't realize just how crazy and out of bounds every day is now. We continue on, because we have to, but it's hard to reevaluate everything every single day because it's so crazy. Europe and the rest of the world are making completely rational decisions in response to the utter self-des…

The people of the USA really remind me of the people of Russia: totally depoliticized. I think in the USA many people are really focused on a pointless culture war yet aren't politically active at all.

> The people of the USA really remind me of the people of Russia: totally depoliticized. I think in the USA many people are really focused on a pointless culture war yet aren't politically active at all.

If anything, the opposite is true. Citizens who've never protested in their lives are now in the streets. Off-year elections have had record turnouts.

154–155 million people voted in the 2024 presidential election; that's 63-65% of eligible voters, the second highest percentage in the past 100 years.

Most Americans took democracy for granted; the possibility of losing it has caused Americans to wake up.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#693

Post by tomhow »

monero-xmr wrote: post #407
epistasis wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no armies, can’t defend itself, can’t make energy. Look I love dumping on the Europoors as much as anyone, but even I can see that this is a bit extreme. "Decadence?" What does that even mean here? That people are happy and secure and have good qualities of life, without worrying about everything falling apart? The US is not fine, and is falling apart. The US is living decadently on its reserve currency status, whi…

[flagged]

We've asked you before not to break the guidelines. Political/ideological flamebait is not what HN is for and destroys what it is for. You can discuss these themes in curious ways, rather than inflammatory ways; indeed, you must, if you want your comments to avoid being killed by flags. Eventually we have to ban accounts that continually flout the guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#694

Post by peyton »

drecked wrote: post #669
afavour wrote: post #42

It's symbolism. But it's important symbolism. Far more notable, I think, is Macron saying this morning that Europe needs more investment from China. Canada signing a deal with China to allow their cars to be sold in the country. It's all a sliding slope until it reaches a breaking point and falls off like a cliff. EDIT: to quote the Canadian PN earlier today: “American hegemony in particular helped provide public goo…

One of the strongest reasons to hold onto the dollar is the stability and finances of the U.S. government. But in the last month, the U.S. President has pushed for a criminal investigation of the Fed chair because he isn’t doing what the U.S. President is asking, has threatened to start a war of conquest against a NATO ally, has simultaneously said increased taxes on imports will reduce the deficit but also that he w…

Well if the Fed Chair did commit a crime, it’s probably better that be investigated and resolved. I wouldn’t put my money in a country where the monetary authorities commit crimes with impunity. I’m not sure what your other points have to do with the monetary authority.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#695

Post by gizzlon »

tim333 wrote: post #529
csantini wrote: post #78

So much American exceptionalism is just the Dollar exceptionalism. Without the G7 piling up dollars, there is no American exceptionalism.

The US has a lot of other things going for it. Rule of law, enterprise, most of the biggest companies in tech, entertainment and the like.

> Rule of law

Are you being sarcastic?

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#696

Post by jacquesm »

HaZeust wrote: post #558
jacquesm wrote: post #461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Simpsons have passed me by. The same with the Teletubbies. I know they exist but I don't feel compelled to go and watch any of it. Life's too short.

Life's too short to punch down on what others like, too; but here we are. Take care.

I'm not sure if I would like it or not, I just haven't been exposed beyond mentions such as yours and the occasional still, and I have a lot on my plate (not enough to forego HN though ;) ).

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#697

Post by epgui »

peyton wrote: post #694
drecked wrote: post #669

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the strongest reasons to hold onto the dollar is the stability and finances of the U.S. government. But in the last month, the U.S. President has pushed for a criminal investigation of the Fed chair because he isn’t doing what the U.S. President is asking, has threatened to start a war of conquest against a NATO ally, has simultaneously said increased taxes on imports will reduce the deficit but also that he w…

Well if the Fed Chair did commit a crime, it’s probably better that be investigated and resolved. I wouldn’t put my money in a country where the monetary authorities commit crimes with impunity. I’m not sure what your other points have to do with the monetary authority.

That “if” is doing a lot of work.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#698

Post by rayiner »

munksbeer wrote: post #641
rayiner wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've seen you hand wave this away (because of course you would) suggesting the US was rich already. How is it "hand waving?" Whether or not the U.S. has gained "long-term economic advantages" from its leadership of NATO is a key factual question. It's the central premise of your paragraph about "pax Americana." You can't simply assume that fact is true. The relative gaps in GDP per capita between the U.S., Denmark…

Why would I need to respond to a random reddit thread and few figures you throw around? You're wanting to overturn the widely held orthodox view that pax americana worked as intended. I'm sure there is an enormous amount of literature about that you could read. I don't think the onus is on me to come up with proof that you're wrong and the orthodox view is in fact, correct.

That view is orthodox among whom? When I was young, the idea that Americans actually benefit from the empire was a view held by Bush/Cheney neocons and World Economic Forum types. Your average Gore/Kerry voter thought it was a scam to redirect money to the military industrial complex: https://www.jeffsachs.org/newspaper-articles/d3te8h5g76htb7k...

Until Trump came onto the scene, the phrase “Pax Americana” was conservative coded: https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-american-empire-pax-a...

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#699

Post by Spooky23 »

peyton wrote: post #694
drecked wrote: post #669

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the strongest reasons to hold onto the dollar is the stability and finances of the U.S. government. But in the last month, the U.S. President has pushed for a criminal investigation of the Fed chair because he isn’t doing what the U.S. President is asking, has threatened to start a war of conquest against a NATO ally, has simultaneously said increased taxes on imports will reduce the deficit but also that he w…

Well if the Fed Chair did commit a crime, it’s probably better that be investigated and resolved. I wouldn’t put my money in a country where the monetary authorities commit crimes with impunity. I’m not sure what your other points have to do with the monetary authority.

When did you stop beating your wife?

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#700

Post by SR2Z »

epolanski wrote: post #424
SR2Z wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compare the strength of the militaries of Europe with the United States and you'll see how that claim is believable. That's changing, but for many years European nations did not spend very much on their militaries. A large part of why is the protection of NATO and US bases in various countries.

No, that's the logic of a 15 years old playing call of duty. Europe has spent less on military because after the cold war and still today, it never had any realistic threat. Russia can't even take few miles off Ukraine. The only realistic threat is the US, which is an ally, in theory. Now a threat.

> The only realistic threat is the US, which is an ally, in theory. Now a threat.

The realistic threat is Russia, which is currently winning a war in Ukraine through sheer attrition and will succeed unless Europe steps up big time.

I hate Trump and would much rather see the world keep on going the way it has been, but Europe's militaries grew around an American core after WWII. A few nations have serious armies (France, for one) but most of Europe is close enough to a US airbase for a small military to work fine.

This misses the point, which is that Europe and the US need each other. Without the US, Europe stands no chance against Chinese and Russian influence. Without Europe, the US cannot stand against China and Russia.

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