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Of course the SSA's bonds are assets. If you lend yourself money, you create an asset and a debt (else where does the money go?) The debt is on the Treasury's b
by millstone 9y ago
Of course the SSA's bonds are assets. If you lend yourself money, you create an asset and a debt (else where does the money go?) The debt is on the Treasury's books already; the Treasury bonds held by the SSA are the other half required to balance the books, and reflect actual payroll taxes. If we called those treasuries debts, we would be double - actually triple - counting debt.
This is an extremely mild accounting practice compared to what private companies routinely engage in. Not all of Google's IP actually originates from an Irish-owned company headquartered in Bermuda.
"Reliable" gold with its 30% annual price swings - well, enough said on that.
> The government can, and has, simply printed money and forced people to accept that as payment of debt.
Forced who - investors who willingly buy Treasuries, understanding full well how the dollar works?
Or did you mean 1930s investors who got fiat instead of gold-backed dollars? There were rather more significant victims of the Depression.
- WalterBright 9y ago> Of course the SSA's bonds are assets. If you lend yourself money, you create an asset and a debt (else where does the money go?) And when you spend the money (the asset), you're left with just debt. > This is an extremely mild accounting practice Spending trillions, and then still calling it an asset? > Forced who - investors who willingly buy Treasuries, understanding full well how the dollar works? The US government gold bonds promised to pay in gold. That's why they sold at a premium. Are you arguing that the bondholders shouldn't have trusted the government to keep its word? > There were rather more significant victims of the Depression. The topic is how government bonds are "the safest, most reliable investment product in the world", not who is the bigger victim.
- Terr_ 9y agoRegarding SS funds, this "it's all one big government" view muddles more than it clarifies. Instead, consider a 3-node chain, where the US government discretionary budget has debts coming due to the SS budget, and the SS budget has obligations to the public. When demagogues claim the SS fund is empty, they are actually trying to trick the public into writing off that debt, instead of going after the upstream debtors... Which is basically Congress. After all, every dollar that isn't being spent servicing the debt to SS is a dollar that can be used in tax cuts for the wealthy...
- toomuchtodo 9y agoSo strange this is downvoted when it’s fact.