3 ms·

So is the current West living in a powder-keg? Our consumer economy relies on heavy trade imbalances.

• busterarm 3y ago
  They tend to be evened out in aggregate with different imports/exports. Also we're not talking an apples to apples comparison here. Back then economies were extremely dependent on silver for international trade and only so much of it came from so many places every year. Trade depended on recirculation of silver. The closest you could get to that today would be one country hoarding the shit out of US dollars and somehow the US being unable to print more. If you look back to the 90s/00s when the US was heavily importing from China and China had no local buying power, the trade imbalance was combatted by the US Treasury creating debt instruments for exclusive buying by China. This diplomatic/economic tool benefited both sides at the time.
  • mbg721 3y ago
    This kind of depends on US Dollar hegemony, doesn't it? What happens if the Dollar loses prominence?