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IDK, the closest approximation of full employment we've seen since the second world war has been the product of low interest rates. Conversely fretting about d

IDK, the closest approximation of full employment we've seen since the second world war has been the product of low interest rates. Conversely fretting about debt in the way you describe, with a concern about the value of present investment in physical infrastructure for the future, has proven over and over again to be unfounded (tax cuts are otherwise clearly a case of leaving money on the table now that will not benefit the future). You'll see.

gridlockd 7y ago
> Conversely fretting about debt in the way you describe, with a concern about the value of present investment in physical infrastructure for the future, has proven over and over again to be unfounded Not true. If you want to see that idea of economic policy fail, look at Turkey under Erdogan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_currency_and_debt_crisis,_2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_currency_and_debt_cris... The reason that Erdogan couldn't pull off this con for as long as the US is that he can't print Dollars or Euros. However, even those "reserve currencies" eventually can lose investor faith. You're just speculating that they never will.
- JamisonM 7y ago
  Yeah, don't borrow in someone else's currency is a pretty important point, the 10 year Danish Krone Bond is at a -0.48%. If you have to borrow in someone else's currency then you are absolutely /not/ the same position that Denmark is right now.
  - gridlockd 7y ago
    The reason Turkey has to borrow in someone else's currency is that their own currency doesn't have the credibility it needs to support low interest rates, so if they want to borrow at affordable rates to boost their economy, they need to use foreign currency. If the US keeps up the deficit spending, it will either need to pay a huge amount of money on debt service, or it needs to monetize its debt - which means credibility will be lost and new debt will be more expensive. Either way, it's not a free lunch.
    - JamisonM 7y ago
      > Either way, it's not a free lunch. Yes there is no free lunch, in particular for any country that is in a completely different circumstance than the country we are discussing.

gridlockd 7y ago

> Conversely fretting about debt in the way you describe, with a concern about the value of present investment in physical infrastructure for the future, has proven over and over again to be unfounded Not true. If you want to see that idea of economic policy fail, look at Turkey under Erdogan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_currency_and_debt_crisis,_2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_currency_and_debt_cris... The reason that Erdogan couldn't pull off this con for as long as the US is that he can't print Dollars or Euros. However, even those "reserve currencies" eventually can lose investor faith. You're just speculating that they never will.

JamisonM 7y ago
Yeah, don't borrow in someone else's currency is a pretty important point, the 10 year Danish Krone Bond is at a -0.48%. If you have to borrow in someone else's currency then you are absolutely /not/ the same position that Denmark is right now.
- gridlockd 7y ago
  The reason Turkey has to borrow in someone else's currency is that their own currency doesn't have the credibility it needs to support low interest rates, so if they want to borrow at affordable rates to boost their economy, they need to use foreign currency. If the US keeps up the deficit spending, it will either need to pay a huge amount of money on debt service, or it needs to monetize its debt - which means credibility will be lost and new debt will be more expensive. Either way, it's not a free lunch.
  - JamisonM 7y ago
    > Either way, it's not a free lunch. Yes there is no free lunch, in particular for any country that is in a completely different circumstance than the country we are discussing.