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> Way I see it, US has the power to just tell any creditor that they won't be repaying It does not. The Fourteenth Amendment forbids that. Section 4: "The val

> Way I see it, US has the power to just tell any creditor that they won't be repaying It does not. The Fourteenth Amendment forbids that. Section 4: "The validity of the public debt of the United States...shall not be questioned."

bijowo1676 2mo ago
US can always print currency to cover existing debt, the problem is convincing investors to keep lending money to the US and keep buying US bonds
- ReptileMan 2mo ago
  You can always print money out of thin air and instead with debt, fuel spending with inflation.
  - bijowo1676 2mo ago
    if other people stop accepting your printed currency, it quickly turns into Weimar or Zimbabwe
    - ReptileMan 2mo ago
      USA is vast and endowed with resources enough to be self sufficient. And US citizens will always accept dollars by law.
      - bijowo1676 2mo ago
        US is running a more than a Trillion dollar trade deficit, what do you think happens when other countries will demand something real, like Gold, instead of freshly printed dollar? does US have a trillion dollar worth of Gold reserves every year?
        otterley 2mo ago
        You’re confusing trade deficits with budget deficits. These are not the same thing. Bond sales pay for budget deficits. They have no bearing (heh) whatsoever on trade deficits. You can end a budget deficit by simply not spending as much from the public purse. You cannot end a trade deficit without restricting freedom of trade.
        ReptileMan 2mo ago
        Then US will just start making the things themselves and not import. Unlike Japan - for USA imports are optional.
        otterley 2mo ago
        Not so. We don’t have the capital investment or labor pool needed to replace China as a source of many goods, especially high tech goods, and it would take a very, very long time to catch up at this point, if we ever could. https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/apple-iphone-us-manufacturing-f730c39c?st=v6nd5C https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/apple-iphone-us-manuf... Fantasies of USA autarky are just that.

bijowo1676 2mo ago

US can always print currency to cover existing debt, the problem is convincing investors to keep lending money to the US and keep buying US bonds

ReptileMan 2mo ago
You can always print money out of thin air and instead with debt, fuel spending with inflation.
- bijowo1676 2mo ago
  if other people stop accepting your printed currency, it quickly turns into Weimar or Zimbabwe
  - ReptileMan 2mo ago
    USA is vast and endowed with resources enough to be self sufficient. And US citizens will always accept dollars by law.
    - bijowo1676 2mo ago
      US is running a more than a Trillion dollar trade deficit, what do you think happens when other countries will demand something real, like Gold, instead of freshly printed dollar? does US have a trillion dollar worth of Gold reserves every year?
      - otterley 2mo ago
        You’re confusing trade deficits with budget deficits. These are not the same thing. Bond sales pay for budget deficits. They have no bearing (heh) whatsoever on trade deficits. You can end a budget deficit by simply not spending as much from the public purse. You cannot end a trade deficit without restricting freedom of trade.
      - ReptileMan 2mo ago
        Then US will just start making the things themselves and not import. Unlike Japan - for USA imports are optional.
        otterley 2mo ago
        Not so. We don’t have the capital investment or labor pool needed to replace China as a source of many goods, especially high tech goods, and it would take a very, very long time to catch up at this point, if we ever could. https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/apple-iphone-us-manufacturing-f730c39c?st=v6nd5C https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/apple-iphone-us-manuf... Fantasies of USA autarky are just that.