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I spent many years as a passionate and vocal fiscal conservative. I stayed up many late nights arguing for relatively balanced budgets and smart (generationall

by nugget 10y ago

I spent many years as a passionate and vocal fiscal conservative. I stayed up many late nights arguing for relatively balanced budgets and smart (generationally fair) budgets. Over time I realized it was likely hopeless, since words (even the truth) can't compete with the tangible materialism of bread and circuses; so now I embrace ''Accelerationism''. We will eventually hit the top of the Laffer Curve, the max debt-to-GDP debt load, and all related fiscal ceilings and cliffs. Let's just hurry up (and try to spend the remaining debt space in the best ways possible) and get it over with so we can have more meaningful debates about how to structure society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism

cylinder 10y ago
You're overly US-centric I think. The US can run unaccountable deficits due to reserve currency status, huge capital availability etc. There are still advanced countries which are fiscally conservative.
- nshelly 10y ago
  It's also difficult to compare US states -- which can't print money, with the U.S. debt level (relatively acceptable in the developed world). Perhaps a better comparison is Illinois and California (the highest poverty rate in the nation, when taking into account cost of living) with eurozone countries like Italy and Greece, which cannot devalue their currency to remain competitive. Yet, unlike the Eurozone, there will be more significant federal distributions to these states which racked up debt and receiving more federal aid including Medicaid / ACA grants, educational assistance, and food stamps. But we will continue to experience what is happening in parts of Michigan and Illinois, where states and cities have to make material sacrifices to pay down the debt.
  - HillaryBriss 10y ago
    California also makes material sacrifices to pay down the pension debt. Consider the condition of the roads (especially in Los Angeles) and the budget problems facing the UC and Cal State University systems.
- nugget 10y ago
  Which advanced countries do you consider to be fiscally conservative?
  - nshelly 10y ago
    Switzerland and Norway would come to mind. Norway has a large sovereign wealth fund created just for the purpose of keeping up an income stream once North Sea oil runs out. Germany and Japan are possibly the only ones close to the US's size and scale in population (3-4x smaller).
    - nugget 10y ago
      Wouldn't the EU as a whole (led by Britain, Germany, and France) be similar to the US? EU + US + Japan = the vast majority of the first world. Norway has done well for themselves but it's a tiny country with massive natural resources and a stable, homogeneous population; it's hard to draw conclusions from their experience that are applicable to the rest of the world.
      - nshelly 10y ago
        Yes, but I wouldn't consider France and the UK necessarily fiscally conservative overall. Moreso than the US - think QE2 and QE3 vs the UK's "age of austerity" under David Cameron through 2015, well after the start of the Great Recession.
deleted 10y ago
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by nugget 10y ago

cylinder 10y ago

You're overly US-centric I think. The US can run unaccountable deficits due to reserve currency status, huge capital availability etc. There are still advanced countries which are fiscally conservative.

nshelly 10y ago
It's also difficult to compare US states -- which can't print money, with the U.S. debt level (relatively acceptable in the developed world). Perhaps a better comparison is Illinois and California (the highest poverty rate in the nation, when taking into account cost of living) with eurozone countries like Italy and Greece, which cannot devalue their currency to remain competitive. Yet, unlike the Eurozone, there will be more significant federal distributions to these states which racked up debt and receiving more federal aid including Medicaid / ACA grants, educational assistance, and food stamps. But we will continue to experience what is happening in parts of Michigan and Illinois, where states and cities have to make material sacrifices to pay down the debt.
- HillaryBriss 10y ago
  California also makes material sacrifices to pay down the pension debt. Consider the condition of the roads (especially in Los Angeles) and the budget problems facing the UC and Cal State University systems.
nugget 10y ago
Which advanced countries do you consider to be fiscally conservative?
- nshelly 10y ago
  Switzerland and Norway would come to mind. Norway has a large sovereign wealth fund created just for the purpose of keeping up an income stream once North Sea oil runs out. Germany and Japan are possibly the only ones close to the US's size and scale in population (3-4x smaller).
  - nugget 10y ago
    Wouldn't the EU as a whole (led by Britain, Germany, and France) be similar to the US? EU + US + Japan = the vast majority of the first world. Norway has done well for themselves but it's a tiny country with massive natural resources and a stable, homogeneous population; it's hard to draw conclusions from their experience that are applicable to the rest of the world.
    - nshelly 10y ago
      Yes, but I wouldn't consider France and the UK necessarily fiscally conservative overall. Moreso than the US - think QE2 and QE3 vs the UK's "age of austerity" under David Cameron through 2015, well after the start of the Great Recession.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]