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> I think a recession would definitely annoy people, but like when it rains, it would clean up a lot of things. Too many zombie companies going on, big tech get

> I think a recession would definitely annoy people, but like when it rains, it would clean up a lot of things. Too many zombie companies going on, big tech getting so much money as it seems the only thing that will stick around post-crisis. Annoy people is a funny way to describe poverty.

thiago_fm 5y ago
Poverty can only be really fixed by tackling poverty. In a country where discussing universal healthcare and basic needs coverage is a considered extreme leftist ideas. I am not impressed that people are worried about recession and the life of the poor. Sure, in a recession, Elon Musk might get poorer, but it isn't the same kind of poverty that affects the poor. If US wants to tackle it properly, first solve the initial issues. It is possible to have a recession where poor people aren't the ones most affected, it's all a matter of approving policies, laws and really looking after the poor. A recession where some rich people that took more risk than they should and get punished isn't bad. What is bad is workers depending so much on their employers to survive. Well, in the US that would get tagged as communism. Best regards from Germany.
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  I wish you didn't get voted down so much. From a Eurocentric perspective, your words make perfect sense.
- burlesona 5y ago
  This is a poor characterization of the issues in the US. (a) We have universal healthcare for those without income: Medicaid. (b) We have universal healthcare for those over 65: Medicare. (c) Discussing healthcare reform is not considered "far left," there is significant debate about how to do this and how to pay for it across the spectrum. So far relatively left politicians have gotten the most airtime about this, but it is discussed broadly. Your note reads as snarky and condescending, and then you signed it "Best regards from Germany," which just confirms this is a drive-by European comment. When it comes to countries that aren't your own, my recommendation would be to ask questions and seek to understand rather than to casually cast judgment. As a final note, please consider that the US is not analogous to Germany. California is analogous to Germany. The US is analogous to the EU. From my reading of international news, it appears that it's more difficult to work out things at the EU-level than it is at the level of an individual nation. That's useful to keep in mind when attempting to make comparisons between the two regions.
  - VonGallifrey 5y ago
    > please consider that the US is not analogous to Germany. California is analogous to Germany. That statement is not true at all. I give you that California has about half of Germanys population, but it is not a country. California is a State. Germany is a country and the membership in a political union like the EU does not make it a state.
    - burlesona 5y ago
      The population is not a match, but States in the US are by design far more autonomous than "provinces" in other countries. When the original 13 states formed the US they thought of it much in the same terms that member states of the EU think of themselves today - not an identical arrangement, but very similar in spirit. California (and the other US States) have their own labor laws, their own environmental standards, their own transportation and energy departments, their own distinct safety net programs, even their own militaries! (aka the "national" guard)! Further, the Federal Government is specifically limited via the 10th Amendment to only those powers which are enumerated to it. By default, legal power is held by the states, not the federal government. This is very unusual. Every "country" has a different mix of systems and different degrees of local autonomy, but US States are at the very high end of local authority while the federal government is at the low end. Thus, comparing some European nation to the US Federal Government is often misleading as it implies that the US federal government even has the power to do things that a European nation can do, which is frequently not the case, or else is greatly complicated by needing state participation and approval.
      - VonGallifrey 5y ago
        Germany is a Federal Republic and so is the USA. Germany has states as well. I grant you that they are different forms of federal republic, but the point that California is not a country stays the same. I don't care what kind of power the federal government of the United States has or doesn't have. That is a problem for the US to figure out for themselves. I don't think that when people compare European nations to the US that they are speaking about the US federal government specifically or imply anything about the power of the US federal government. What is more likely is that they are asking why the people of the USA have not archived what people of other countries take for granted. The fact that this would have to be archived via state or federal government is a detail at best.
- hogFeast 5y ago
  Germany...a country with one of the highest levels of wealth inequality in the world (roughly equal to the US). With median net household wealth below Greece, and one of the highest proportion of billionaires in the world. Endemic corporate corruption, low competition, non-existent regulation, weak unions...people in glass houses. Also, the US has one of the largest public healthcare systems in the world. Comparisons are slightly complicated but, as a % of GDP, it is roughly the same size as Germany (on a tax base a fraction of the size). The only nation in Europe that actually has a larger public health sector than the US is Sweden. Work is the only way to lift people out of poverty. Germany is a self-evident example of this: the economy revolves around large corporations who are heavily protected by competition from govt. I would bet on the competitive American model that can renew itself every time over the corporatist model that protects wealthy industrialists in exchange for meagre handouts to the poors. The US tax system is a great example of the potential of redistribution (particularly, property taxes...an area of notable weakness in Germany).
  - thiago_fm 5y ago
    Perhaps back it up with data, because everything you have written is wrong. From the wealth inequality to the redistribution of wealth.
    - hogFeast 5y ago
      Google for the IMF and Germany inequality. They have written several reports on this because German inequality is the main source of financial stability globally (in addition to the Netherlands, this was China a few years ago but China has modified their position).
      - thiago_fm 5y ago
        IMF has a very american centric view and if you understand what it has been doing to the world, mainly third world countries, you would really question all its authority on anything. Come to Germany and see if it is really unequal with your eyes. :-)
marcosdumay 5y ago
You are assuming that printed money benefit the poor. This is possible in theory, but it does really look like it's not happening on the US.

thiago_fm 5y ago

Poverty can only be really fixed by tackling poverty. In a country where discussing universal healthcare and basic needs coverage is a considered extreme leftist ideas. I am not impressed that people are worried about recession and the life of the poor. Sure, in a recession, Elon Musk might get poorer, but it isn't the same kind of poverty that affects the poor. If US wants to tackle it properly, first solve the initial issues. It is possible to have a recession where poor people aren't the ones most affected, it's all a matter of approving policies, laws and really looking after the poor. A recession where some rich people that took more risk than they should and get punished isn't bad. What is bad is workers depending so much on their employers to survive. Well, in the US that would get tagged as communism. Best regards from Germany.

selfhoster11 5y ago
I wish you didn't get voted down so much. From a Eurocentric perspective, your words make perfect sense.
burlesona 5y ago
This is a poor characterization of the issues in the US. (a) We have universal healthcare for those without income: Medicaid. (b) We have universal healthcare for those over 65: Medicare. (c) Discussing healthcare reform is not considered "far left," there is significant debate about how to do this and how to pay for it across the spectrum. So far relatively left politicians have gotten the most airtime about this, but it is discussed broadly. Your note reads as snarky and condescending, and then you signed it "Best regards from Germany," which just confirms this is a drive-by European comment. When it comes to countries that aren't your own, my recommendation would be to ask questions and seek to understand rather than to casually cast judgment. As a final note, please consider that the US is not analogous to Germany. California is analogous to Germany. The US is analogous to the EU. From my reading of international news, it appears that it's more difficult to work out things at the EU-level than it is at the level of an individual nation. That's useful to keep in mind when attempting to make comparisons between the two regions.
- VonGallifrey 5y ago
  > please consider that the US is not analogous to Germany. California is analogous to Germany. That statement is not true at all. I give you that California has about half of Germanys population, but it is not a country. California is a State. Germany is a country and the membership in a political union like the EU does not make it a state.
  - burlesona 5y ago
    The population is not a match, but States in the US are by design far more autonomous than "provinces" in other countries. When the original 13 states formed the US they thought of it much in the same terms that member states of the EU think of themselves today - not an identical arrangement, but very similar in spirit. California (and the other US States) have their own labor laws, their own environmental standards, their own transportation and energy departments, their own distinct safety net programs, even their own militaries! (aka the "national" guard)! Further, the Federal Government is specifically limited via the 10th Amendment to only those powers which are enumerated to it. By default, legal power is held by the states, not the federal government. This is very unusual. Every "country" has a different mix of systems and different degrees of local autonomy, but US States are at the very high end of local authority while the federal government is at the low end. Thus, comparing some European nation to the US Federal Government is often misleading as it implies that the US federal government even has the power to do things that a European nation can do, which is frequently not the case, or else is greatly complicated by needing state participation and approval.
    - VonGallifrey 5y ago
      Germany is a Federal Republic and so is the USA. Germany has states as well. I grant you that they are different forms of federal republic, but the point that California is not a country stays the same. I don't care what kind of power the federal government of the United States has or doesn't have. That is a problem for the US to figure out for themselves. I don't think that when people compare European nations to the US that they are speaking about the US federal government specifically or imply anything about the power of the US federal government. What is more likely is that they are asking why the people of the USA have not archived what people of other countries take for granted. The fact that this would have to be archived via state or federal government is a detail at best.
hogFeast 5y ago
Germany...a country with one of the highest levels of wealth inequality in the world (roughly equal to the US). With median net household wealth below Greece, and one of the highest proportion of billionaires in the world. Endemic corporate corruption, low competition, non-existent regulation, weak unions...people in glass houses. Also, the US has one of the largest public healthcare systems in the world. Comparisons are slightly complicated but, as a % of GDP, it is roughly the same size as Germany (on a tax base a fraction of the size). The only nation in Europe that actually has a larger public health sector than the US is Sweden. Work is the only way to lift people out of poverty. Germany is a self-evident example of this: the economy revolves around large corporations who are heavily protected by competition from govt. I would bet on the competitive American model that can renew itself every time over the corporatist model that protects wealthy industrialists in exchange for meagre handouts to the poors. The US tax system is a great example of the potential of redistribution (particularly, property taxes...an area of notable weakness in Germany).
- thiago_fm 5y ago
  Perhaps back it up with data, because everything you have written is wrong. From the wealth inequality to the redistribution of wealth.
  - hogFeast 5y ago
    Google for the IMF and Germany inequality. They have written several reports on this because German inequality is the main source of financial stability globally (in addition to the Netherlands, this was China a few years ago but China has modified their position).
    - thiago_fm 5y ago
      IMF has a very american centric view and if you understand what it has been doing to the world, mainly third world countries, you would really question all its authority on anything. Come to Germany and see if it is really unequal with your eyes. :-)

marcosdumay 5y ago

You are assuming that printed money benefit the poor. This is possible in theory, but it does really look like it's not happening on the US.