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Another way to get $2T is to just spend it and not be overly concerned with debt.

by howard941 7y ago

AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
Works like a charm until the money has to be repaid.
- howard941 7y ago
  Does the charm last when it's never repaid? See for ex https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/why-the-us-government-never-ever-has-to-pay-back-all-its-debt/272747/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/why-the... Contra: Before the dot com crash and 9/11 some non-lunatics were worrying that Treasuries would go away and there'd be no safe place to store money because all the debt looked like it was going to be paid off before too long.
  - AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
    Saying that the countries do not die, as the referenced article suggests is not right: states do disappear every once in a while. Yes, their lifespan is usually longer than for humans a but it's not infinite. But even looking at mortal humans: in 2008 many of them have realized that no, it's not possible to keep borrowing indefinitely. Some day the creditors may ask for their money back. Some people suggest we'll just print the money we need. The problem is that now I can take this money and buy half of your country before you realize what's going on.
rayiner 7y ago
I think we can sustain some deficit spending. But $2 trillion annually would triple the deficit.
tptacek 7y ago
Can we put aside the financing part of this and just address how crazy this suggestion is just as a matter of common sense? Our country pays significantly more than its peers do on health care. The crisis in health care isn't that it's not universally free, but that it costs too damn much. The "just put $2T on the debit card" answer to that problem says, ok, fuck it, the systems that are overcharging us for care, leave them alone, give them their money, and let's figure this out later. But that money is going somewhere. Of all the places the federal government can route a dollar, how does it make sense to send it to companies that are, deliberately or unintentionally (through inefficiency), overcharging us? How is that not just abject surrender?

Another way to get $2T is to just spend it and not be overly concerned with debt.

AlexTWithBeard 7y ago

Works like a charm until the money has to be repaid.

howard941 7y ago
Does the charm last when it's never repaid? See for ex https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/why-the-us-government-never-ever-has-to-pay-back-all-its-debt/272747/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/why-the... Contra: Before the dot com crash and 9/11 some non-lunatics were worrying that Treasuries would go away and there'd be no safe place to store money because all the debt looked like it was going to be paid off before too long.
- AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
  Saying that the countries do not die, as the referenced article suggests is not right: states do disappear every once in a while. Yes, their lifespan is usually longer than for humans a but it's not infinite. But even looking at mortal humans: in 2008 many of them have realized that no, it's not possible to keep borrowing indefinitely. Some day the creditors may ask for their money back. Some people suggest we'll just print the money we need. The problem is that now I can take this money and buy half of your country before you realize what's going on.

rayiner 7y ago

I think we can sustain some deficit spending. But $2 trillion annually would triple the deficit.

tptacek 7y ago

Can we put aside the financing part of this and just address how crazy this suggestion is just as a matter of common sense? Our country pays significantly more than its peers do on health care. The crisis in health care isn't that it's not universally free, but that it costs too damn much. The "just put $2T on the debit card" answer to that problem says, ok, fuck it, the systems that are overcharging us for care, leave them alone, give them their money, and let's figure this out later. But that money is going somewhere. Of all the places the federal government can route a dollar, how does it make sense to send it to companies that are, deliberately or unintentionally (through inefficiency), overcharging us? How is that not just abject surrender?