What LBJ said about silver coinage

[arakboss]

National debt crisis 'more urgent' than ever, BlackRock says | Fortune

Fiscal deficits have fuelled America's gravity-defying economic growth, but bond investors may revolt, plunging the country into a decade of austerity.

fortune.com

 

[monkeybutler]

National debt crisis 'more urgent' than ever, BlackRock says | Fortune

Fiscal deficits have fuelled America's gravity-defying economic growth, but bond investors may revolt, plunging the country into a decade of austerity.

fortune.com

Yeah it would be great if people in congress had the same economic mind as you.

 

[Quirt Evans]

Back when the debt was low, (and interest on it was low,) the US was actually producing goods that we here and the rest of the world both wanted and bought.
A country CONNOT be prosperous, nor its citizens enjoy a good lifestyle unless they produce what others want.
When you become a "service" society, there is no wealth generated except for a very few at the top of the ladder.
An easy analogy would be to say that a service society produces one billionaire instead of a thousand millionaires, it amalgamates wealth in fewer people.
A service society is basically just a step or so above a "barter for labor" without "goods" being produced.
You can't maintain a high standard of living when the workforce becomes one where "everybody just sells insurance to one another".
At a basic level, every job/factory shipped overseas and every overseas product we are increasingly forced to buy, (because we don't produce it anymore,) means that the Govt. must borrow more and more to prop-up the markets and to maintain a charade of "don't you worry, the economies just fine".
Guess what, it isn't "fine" and it will crash.
The only thing for debate is "how long until it does?".

 

[arakboss]

Yeah it would be great if people in congress had the same economic mind as you.

If the Government shared my frugal nature and kept a very low debt to income ratio like I do, it would be great for everybody except for the welfare recipients.

 

[arakboss]

The US has a debt to tax revenue ratio of nearly 7 to 1.

My current debt to income ratio is about 1 to 14.

 

[Stomper]

The US has a debt to tax revenue ratio of nearly 7 to 1.

My current debt to income ratio is about 1 to 14.

My ratio is roughly 1 to 50, and will be 0 within the next year if I REALLY get pissed off about it enough.

 

[gmerkt]

The only thing for debate is "how long until it does?".

Very difficult to pinpoint the starting point of something like this. Maybe down the road, historians will be able to sort through it and pinpoint what they think was the tipping point, like Oct. 1929. But in truth these events typically have a long build-up process. During which most people don't pay attention to it. So when it "starts" they are taken by surprise. And also usually, by that time, it's too late to take remedial action for their individual circumstances.

You look around at how many dollars it takes to buy stuff, you know we're in something fairly well along. It's picked velocity quickly. In many cities, common one family houses cost a million dollars. The prices of new cars and small trucks are way up there. Equities markets are very puffed up from plentiful cash. Stupid-A, would-be financial vehicles like Bitcoin are flying high. Precious metals on a tear. Salaries and wages for fairly ordinary labor are way up there now. It's fast turning into Monopoly money. People are aware of inflation, but at present they are mostly thinking about groceries and gasoline. Most people aren't aware of how far gone into debt their government is; they think the party will continue as it has throughout their lifetimes. I sincerely hope they are right.

On the other hand, I have to ask myself, is this what the picture might look like just before true hyperinflation takes off? Like Germany in late 1923?

 

[Stomper]

History seems to suggest when the government says not to do something, that's precisely what you should be doing. The opposite is also true.

Analogue:

When the government says you don't need an AR-15, that means you better acquire at least three of them.