4 ms·

Default More Than 400 Years Ago Leaves Scars

34 points by gatsby 15y ago

georgieporgie 15y ago
For those concerned about the current debt issues, the last two Planet Money podcasts of were fantastic, and rather reassuring: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=94411890 http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=944...
wlievens 15y ago
Amusing read, but the "leaves scars" part is completely unsubstantiated in the text itself, except for a vague allusion in the last paragraph.
- RuadhanMc 15y ago
  Yes, it leaves scars only in the sense that the event has been recorded by historians. Interesting story, but bad title.
  - jcitme 15y ago
    Well, considering this influenced the fall of the Spanish from the leading country of the time, this might not be a 'cause' of the fall, in the same way that the fall of the Roman empire was complex. But I for one can see how that this might resonate though history to today. Maybe not as extreme as "YOU WOULD BE SPEAKING SPANISH NOW", but there should be definite influences.
hapless 15y ago
This column perpetuates a misleading theme in the debate. The author implies that the U.S. will suffer terrible consequence in the event of a default. This is true, but completely irrelevant: Under no circumstances will the U.S. actually default. As long as federal revenues are greater than the costs of servicing our debt, we will continue to service it. The government is constitutionally obligated to do so. Rather than default, we will see catastrophic and immediate cuts in services. All of a sudden, the government's monthly outlays will have to fit into monthly revenues. This is the goal of the House Republicans -- "starve the beast." They're comfortable with a failure in negotiations. For them, it's a heads-we-win, tails-you-lose situation. In any case, while a failure to raise the debt ceiling will send a lot of people home hungry, those people will certainly not be the bondholders.
- gte910h 15y ago
  The issue is credit ratings. The agencies which set them may view this as a selective default. I too doubt they'll miss a debt payment (our debt payments aren't hard at all, they were worse in the 90's), but I am fearful of the SS cutoff that might happen being considered as a Selective Default.

34 points by gatsby 15y ago

For those concerned about the current debt issues, the last two Planet Money podcasts of were fantastic, and rather reassuring: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=94411890 http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=944...

wlievens 15y ago

Amusing read, but the "leaves scars" part is completely unsubstantiated in the text itself, except for a vague allusion in the last paragraph.

RuadhanMc 15y ago
Yes, it leaves scars only in the sense that the event has been recorded by historians. Interesting story, but bad title.
- jcitme 15y ago
  Well, considering this influenced the fall of the Spanish from the leading country of the time, this might not be a 'cause' of the fall, in the same way that the fall of the Roman empire was complex. But I for one can see how that this might resonate though history to today. Maybe not as extreme as "YOU WOULD BE SPEAKING SPANISH NOW", but there should be definite influences.

hapless 15y ago

This column perpetuates a misleading theme in the debate. The author implies that the U.S. will suffer terrible consequence in the event of a default. This is true, but completely irrelevant: Under no circumstances will the U.S. actually default. As long as federal revenues are greater than the costs of servicing our debt, we will continue to service it. The government is constitutionally obligated to do so. Rather than default, we will see catastrophic and immediate cuts in services. All of a sudden, the government's monthly outlays will have to fit into monthly revenues. This is the goal of the House Republicans -- "starve the beast." They're comfortable with a failure in negotiations. For them, it's a heads-we-win, tails-you-lose situation. In any case, while a failure to raise the debt ceiling will send a lot of people home hungry, those people will certainly not be the bondholders.

gte910h 15y ago
The issue is credit ratings. The agencies which set them may view this as a selective default. I too doubt they'll miss a debt payment (our debt payments aren't hard at all, they were worse in the 90's), but I am fearful of the SS cutoff that might happen being considered as a Selective Default.