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> I'd ask him one question: how is the idea of regulated, political and centralized money working out for you? That's kind of a straw man, because the Euro is
by chimeracoder 11y ago
> I'd ask him one question: how is the idea of regulated, political and centralized money working out for you?
That's kind of a straw man, because the Euro is all of the burdens of a centralized fiat currency while lacking almost all of the benefits (or at least the ones most relevant to Greece's current situation).
Having a unified monetary policy among countries with incredibly fragmented and disparate fiscal policies is a recipe for disaster. Even in the US, fiscal policies are relatively unified at the federal level and states are prohibited from backing their own debt the way nation-states (like the US federal government and Eurozone countries) can.
And on that note, look at the USD. It's the strongest fiat currency in the world and the preferred medium of exchange worldwide, even despite all of the outstanding issues with the US economy and the state of the US national debt. Clearly a centralized, fiat currency can be powerful if you don't set it up for failure from day one (as the Euro was).
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- Nursie 11y agoReplying to (I think) undo accidental downvote. Oops
- cbd1984 11y agoAs simple matter of showing how the local software works: The comment was gray when I found it and upvoted it, so I don't think replies undo downvotes. The UI of this place is terrible on mobile. Fingers aren't styluses, and nobody (out to three decimal places...) uses a stylus to interact with a mobile phone.
- cbd1984 11y ago> even despite all of the outstanding issues with the US economy There's a difference between a temporary setback and problems with the fundamentals. This is the case in the private sector and it is the case with sovereign entities, and the people who keep buying US Bonds obviously understand this. > and the state of the US national debt. Debt is only a problem if you can't service it. This is doubly true with sovereign debt, where servicing debt provides people a safe place to invest their money. None of what I said is controversial among people who understand economies. The fact people whine and moan about the USA's debt is a function of how easy it is to score cheap political points by taking advantage of the ignorant.
- gnaritas 11y agoWell said.
- chimeracoder 11y ago> Debt is only a problem if you can't service it. This is doubly true with sovereign debt, where servicing debt provides people a safe place to invest their money. > None of what I said is controversial among people who understand economies. I have a degree in economics, so yes, I understand how sovereign debt works. The point is that even if the market never loses faith in the US's ability to pay back its existing debt, if it stops being the most trustworthy source of newly-issued debt, the US loses a great deal of power.
- calibraxis 11y agoInteresting notion, the global bully with the big weapons owing you (a nation) a "debt". Which is made by you giving them your money in exchange for IOUs. And you keep rolling it over. Sounds more like tribute.
- pjc50 11y agoIndeed. The regulation and centralisation is at the EU level, which isn't really supported by the democratic institutions. There isn't enough solidarity in Europe to make it work. The US is completely different. No matter how bad things get in Detroit, nobody seriously suggests expelling Michigan from the US.