better idea than quantitative easing?

[John_doe]

could'nt we liquidate debt through strategic currency floats and avoid the pain they are causing? you guys probably know better than me, but it seems to make far more sense than what they are doing now.

[Mossy]

You mean "inflation"? QE is just another way to inflate the currency, intended to benefit insiders.

The nation is in a debt hole, and still digging.

[Lemon Thrower]

what does "liquidate debt" and "strategic currency floats" mean?

re debt, there are finite alternatives. either you default in full or part, or repay in full in part.

In bankruptcy, you declare a default and then come up with a way to treat everyone fairly based on their position (not necessarily equally - secured lenders get more). then you pay folks in part, and the rest of the debt is discharged (destroyed).

repaying in full by printing money means you devalue the currency in a massive, potentially destabilizing shock. worse, other countries will follow suit. instead, they are doing this in slow motion.

an honest way to do this would be to say that the dollar is revalued against gold. According to JIm Rickards, assumign the US owns in full the gold it claims to own, we can balance our on-budget liabilities by revaluing gold to about $15,000 an ounce. the USGov could just say its a buyer of gold at 99% of $15,000, and a seller at 101% of $15,000. Overnight, gold would go to $15,000 and our debt could be repaid fairly.

ultimately, the problems stem from the fact that we are using debt as money, that there are no effective limits on debt creation, and the destruction of debt in such a system is destabilizing.

[NHsorter]

what does "liquidate debt" and "strategic currency floats" mean?

re debt, there are finite alternatives. either you default in full or part, or repay in full in part.

In bankruptcy, you declare a default and then come up with a way to treat everyone fairly based on their position (not necessarily equally - secured lenders get more). then you pay folks in part, and the rest of the debt is discharged (destroyed).

repaying in full by printing money means you devalue the currency in a massive, potentially destabilizing shock. worse, other countries will follow suit. instead, they are doing this in slow motion.

an honest way to do this would be to say that the dollar is revalued against gold. According to JIm Rickards, assumign the US owns in full the gold it claims to own, we can balance our on-budget liabilities by revaluing gold to about $15,000 an ounce. the USGov could just say its a buyer of gold at 99% of $15,000, and a seller at 101% of $15,000. Overnight, gold would go to $15,000 and our debt could be repaid fairly.

ultimately, the problems stem from the fact that we are using debt as money, that there are no effective limits on debt creation, and the destruction of debt in such a system is destabilizing.

On paper this works. But without funny money, how we the entitlement train keep chugging? How long until we use up all the $15,000 gold in Fort Knox buying teargas and rubber bullets?

[John_doe]

what does "liquidate debt" and "strategic currency floats" mean?

re debt, there are finite alternatives. either you default in full or part, or repay in full in part.

In bankruptcy, you declare a default and then come up with a way to treat everyone fairly based on their position (not necessarily equally - secured lenders get more). then you pay folks in part, and the rest of the debt is discharged (destroyed).

repaying in full by printing money means you devalue the currency in a massive, potentially destabilizing shock. worse, other countries will follow suit. instead, they are doing this in slow motion.

an honest way to do this would be to say that the dollar is revalued against gold. According to JIm Rickards, assumign the US owns in full the gold it claims to own, we can balance our on-budget liabilities by revaluing gold to about $15,000 an ounce. the USGov could just say its a buyer of gold at 99% of $15,000, and a seller at 101% of $15,000. Overnight, gold would go to $15,000 and our debt could be repaid fairly.

ultimately, the problems stem from the fact that we are using debt as money, that there are no effective limits on debt creation, and the destruction of debt in such a system is destabilizing.

Floats happen daily. The bulk of our debts are to China, Canada, and Mexico. We raise the value of their currency vs usd and take the debt off the books. Usd still has a lot of pull over other currencies, the reason why people short the dollar is because the smart people at the federal reserve think they can rob everyone in the world at once without a collapse of the dollar.