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For perspective, current federal, state and local tax burden is $6.91 trillion. I am very thankful that finally somebody is doing something about the economic

For perspective, current federal, state and local tax burden is $6.91 trillion. I am very thankful that finally somebody is doing something about the economic anarchy this country has suffered for so long. Given that there is so much theoretic and historical precedent that the best way to organize an economy is by looping as much money as possible through the political capital of the country. What I don't quite understand is why don't they just print a few more trillions?

redis_mlc 5y ago
Your comment makes no sense outside of superficial Marxism, but I'll comment on one line: > What I don't quite understand is why don't they just print a few more trillions? To a certain point, as the USD is the global currency, we can do that. (And we did during the corona pandemic.) After that point, printing money causes people to lose confidence (since it's just paper, and not money) and find another currency. Then you can't print any more without causing the currency to devalue. This would be very bad for 2 reasons: 1) As the global currency, the US benefits by about 1% to our economy. You could argue this pays for our military expenditures. 2) We would have to make debt payments to support the currency. After a certain point, that becomes impossible. FYI: the CCP is trying to replace the USD, and will exploit weaknesses in how we manage the USD. Maybe you're young, but I can remember 20% inflation/stagflation back in the day. It was a very uncomfortable feeling for people to lose control of the value of their savings and prices for imports. You want to avoid that at almost any effort. Pundits for decades have said that the fundamental weakness of democracy is that voters can vote themselves free money. This is what the Biden administration is actually doing now.
- Alekhine 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure he's joking
  - redis_mlc 5y ago
    Both my post and the GP's post were not joking. It's common when talking to young people to hear "just print more money." It works, until it doesn't. For those who don't know how bad hyperinflation can get, imagine putting your teen daughter on a street corner in the tourist district (ie. Cuba.) To learn more about how a country can ruin its finances, watch this video for how Japan screwed up. The Japanese govt. currently owns 70% of corporate debt and a large part of their stock market, so effectively there's no public capital market (what you read in a financial newspaper is fake): "The Economy of Japan: how a Superpower FELL from Grace in Four Decades" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_yyadYgG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_yyadYgG8
- angelzen 5y ago
  I have already lived through a decade of (hyper)inflation in a different country. At the time the grassroots solution was to establish a shadow economy based on USD. I find it very interesting, in Chinese proverb kind of way, to see how the world will manage the destabilization of the USD that is already underway.
  - redis_mlc 5y ago
    Biden supporters are to the left of Stalin - he needed the money to industrialize and build a modern military, which he accomplished just before Germany invaded in WW2, while Biden is exiting a pandemic. What the $3.5 trillion budget is about is not money, it's about the Marxist policies hidden in its 10,000 pages that nobody has time to read. (Biden's "progressive policies" that Joe Manchin won't go along with.)
anm89 5y ago
>What I don't quite understand is why don't they just print a few more trillions? Despite the ever frequent refrain of "governments aren't households, they can't default on debt,they can always print, the debt doesn't matter", the question you asked is the entire logical argument for proving this isn't the case. if they could do it, they would do it. The truth is there are a vast number of interrelated reasons that mean while although it is technically possible, in a majority of circumstances it is not on the table as people rightfully worry about a huge number of potential consequences some of which are obvious to casual observers and many of which are not.
WalterBright 5y ago
> the economic anarchy this country has suffered for so long Free markets are a chaotic system, that's for sure. But it made the US the wealthiest country in the world, and hundreds of thousands of poor people tramp thousands of miles for just a chance to be part of it. > historical precedent that the best way to organize an economy is by letting it run itself. It doesn't need to be organized, as free markets are self-organizing.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

redis_mlc 5y ago

Your comment makes no sense outside of superficial Marxism, but I'll comment on one line: > What I don't quite understand is why don't they just print a few more trillions? To a certain point, as the USD is the global currency, we can do that. (And we did during the corona pandemic.) After that point, printing money causes people to lose confidence (since it's just paper, and not money) and find another currency. Then you can't print any more without causing the currency to devalue. This would be very bad for 2 reasons: 1) As the global currency, the US benefits by about 1% to our economy. You could argue this pays for our military expenditures. 2) We would have to make debt payments to support the currency. After a certain point, that becomes impossible. FYI: the CCP is trying to replace the USD, and will exploit weaknesses in how we manage the USD. Maybe you're young, but I can remember 20% inflation/stagflation back in the day. It was a very uncomfortable feeling for people to lose control of the value of their savings and prices for imports. You want to avoid that at almost any effort. Pundits for decades have said that the fundamental weakness of democracy is that voters can vote themselves free money. This is what the Biden administration is actually doing now.

Alekhine 5y ago
I'm pretty sure he's joking
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  Both my post and the GP's post were not joking. It's common when talking to young people to hear "just print more money." It works, until it doesn't. For those who don't know how bad hyperinflation can get, imagine putting your teen daughter on a street corner in the tourist district (ie. Cuba.) To learn more about how a country can ruin its finances, watch this video for how Japan screwed up. The Japanese govt. currently owns 70% of corporate debt and a large part of their stock market, so effectively there's no public capital market (what you read in a financial newspaper is fake): "The Economy of Japan: how a Superpower FELL from Grace in Four Decades" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_yyadYgG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_yyadYgG8
angelzen 5y ago
I have already lived through a decade of (hyper)inflation in a different country. At the time the grassroots solution was to establish a shadow economy based on USD. I find it very interesting, in Chinese proverb kind of way, to see how the world will manage the destabilization of the USD that is already underway.
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  Biden supporters are to the left of Stalin - he needed the money to industrialize and build a modern military, which he accomplished just before Germany invaded in WW2, while Biden is exiting a pandemic. What the $3.5 trillion budget is about is not money, it's about the Marxist policies hidden in its 10,000 pages that nobody has time to read. (Biden's "progressive policies" that Joe Manchin won't go along with.)

anm89 5y ago

>What I don't quite understand is why don't they just print a few more trillions? Despite the ever frequent refrain of "governments aren't households, they can't default on debt,they can always print, the debt doesn't matter", the question you asked is the entire logical argument for proving this isn't the case. if they could do it, they would do it. The truth is there are a vast number of interrelated reasons that mean while although it is technically possible, in a majority of circumstances it is not on the table as people rightfully worry about a huge number of potential consequences some of which are obvious to casual observers and many of which are not.

WalterBright 5y ago

> the economic anarchy this country has suffered for so long Free markets are a chaotic system, that's for sure. But it made the US the wealthiest country in the world, and hundreds of thousands of poor people tramp thousands of miles for just a chance to be part of it. > historical precedent that the best way to organize an economy is by letting it run itself. It doesn't need to be organized, as free markets are self-organizing.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]