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The Inconvenient Debt


Thunderbroom

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There was no context. That's part of the problem with the video in the OP. Printing money is neither good nor bad.

 

 

Printing money can definitely be a good or bad thing. You don't think he substantiated his point, and I agree, but that's different than not understanding the point someone is making.

 

He believes printing money without something to back it will devalue the dollar, and it's therefore bad. I feel that is clear from the video, and along with the comments from a lot of people here gave TB's question context.

 

BTW, I have a book to loan you on running workshops. I uncovered it when I was up at my parents this weekend.

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Again I ask, seriously? Given the context of this thread, and the content of the video, I honestly didn't think it needed to be spelled out.

 

 

It definitely needs to be spelled out. The guy in the video doesn't.

 

Here's an article that says that in the short term the government has no other choice but to print money. And I'm sure there is no shortage of opinions that scream in horror about this, and those that think printing money is a stroke of brilliance.

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The only context missing is how many other countries aren't printing money in the same fashion. If the Euros, Chinese and others aren't printing money to cover debts, then it's a serious problem for the US. If they are doing the same thing to try to solve their problems, then it would have little effect from an international standpoint. However, one needs to only look at the situation in Iceland to understand that a government can't print its way out of trouble.

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I finally watched the video.
:confused:
+
:facepalm:
+
:bor:
+
:blah:

That was a disgrace. I figured you and Isaac were overstating the lack of context. You weren't.

 

How do you mean it lacks context?

 

It lacks and support, or substantiation, but how could the video provide it's own context?

 

Also, the discussion of context was about TB's question, not the video.

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This guy didn't explain a damned thing. No context, no discussion of inflation, recession, what the point of the gold standard was and why we're no longer on it. There's no serious representation from the other side of his rant.


Look. The guy is on television. What does television do? It inflames people so they'll watch commercials.


This video is as serious as watching Milton Berle hit Jack Benny in the face with a pie.

 

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"Do you think printing more money with nothing to back it in an attempt to try and artificially stimulate a damaged economy is a reasonable course of action?"

 

 

Forget the video. Yes, it didn't explain anything, it was an opinion with no support. That doesn't prevent anyone from giving their opinion, which is all TB asked for, and backing their opinion up.

 

But to answer the question like Isaac did, completely out of the context of our current discussion and economic environment, and then claim he'd need to infer something to answer otherwise is ridiculous.

 

:phil:

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It's a one minute opinion/puff piece....


Forget the video. Yes, it didn't explain anything, it was an opinion with no support. That doesn't prevent anyone from giving their opinion, which is all TB asked for, and backing their opinion up.

 

 

I usually don't start threads by posting other people's unsupported claims and calling them "eye openers," especially without during any further research (if T-Broom did, I don't see it). But, to each his own.

 

Why should I waste my time researching this when the OP won't?

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In regards to the larger point that BroMan brings up, in our current economic environment, printing money absolutely IS good, or bad. The problem is we won't know which is correct for a few years.
:(

To say "it's neither good or bad", is as unsubstantiated as the guy riding the red line. And that takes us back to TB's question of Mango which I think I clarified (I'm sure TB would have corrected me) is:




Forget the video. Yes, it didn't explain anything, it was an opinion with no support. That doesn't prevent anyone from giving their opinion, which is all TB asked for, and backing their opinion up.


But to answer the question like Isaac did, completely out of the context of our current discussion and economic environment, and then claim he'd need to infer something to answer otherwise is ridiculous.


:phil:

 

 

I'm saying something a little different. Let's step back ...

 

We have the video, and TBroom's claim about "an eye-opener." I'm asking "what are my eyes being open to?" We had nothing other than a dramatic guy, a red line, and claim that I was about to see an "eye opener."

 

Then the thread was off & running with predictable cries about the horrible government.

 

Why do I say that printing money is neither good nor bad?

Because nothing is either good or bad. There is a context that we need in order to evaluate the effectiveness of an action. Again, if I cut off my own foot, is that bad? You don't know until I tell you what I was trying to accomplish, and compare that against the other options that I had. Then there are people who'll benefit, people who'll be harmed, and those harms & benefits will shift over time.

 

Printing money today ... let's agree that there are a lot of people who'll be harmed by this in the long run, but what are the alternatives and costs of other options in the short run? No matter how theses questions are answered, we can't conclude that no one will ever benefit.

 

 

 

If I print some fake money and successfully spend it at McDonald's, it's good for me in the short run, and maybe good for me in the long run if I die and never get caught. It might be bad for McDonald's if their bank catches my counterfeit note. If the note isn't caught, McDonald's gets credit for the money.

Did something bad happen? No. Something illegal happened, and it may or may not be discovered. If I feel any anxiety about it later, it may not have been worth whatever I bought with the fake money.

 

 

This can go on & on; but the point is that TBroom and the guy in the video didn't give enough information for us to say much. Speaking for myself, I find that man quite silly. And I'm not going to give him the benefit of me dreaming up a context based on his power of suggestion.

 

***

 

 

I'd surely love to borrow that book.

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Now you're trying to justify why your statement was incorrect during the 2 largest wars the US has ever participated in - correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think our treasury got "depleted" during Korea or Vietnam, either...



"foreign wars deplete the treasury and the nation's wealth directly."



As I said - historically, the above is incorrect in regards to the USA...




- georgestrings

 

 

These things don't happen in a vacuum. There is not only one variable.

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Printing money can definitely be a good or bad thing. You don't think he substantiated his point, and I agree, but that's different than not understanding the point someone is making.


He believes printing money without something to back it will devalue the dollar, and it's therefore bad. I feel that is clear from the video, and along with the comments from a lot of people here gave TB's question context.


BTW, I have a book to loan you on running workshops. I uncovered it when I was up at my parents this weekend.

 

 

And he's right. This is simply Gresham's Law. Bad money drives out good money. But is that all he's saying? If so, it's a total waste of time. If not, what else is he saying?

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And he's right. This is simply Gresham's Law. Bad money drives out good money. But is that all he's saying? If so, it's a total waste of time. If not, what else is he saying?

 

 

It doesn't matter what that man was saying. He could have been talking about penguins. The drama and titillation were the real messages.

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I'd like to remind those who worry about military members spending their American money on foreign soil this one little tidbit: the shopping in Afghanistan and Iraq sucks. Ok? Their money overwhelmingly goes directly home to support family, pay bills, or be ratholed for a massive beer n' whiskey bash if they make it home relatively intact.

 

Reminds me of an airman who was with us in Saudi, 90-91, who's wife was convinced he was downtown running the bars, chasing all the "ninja-chicks", as she called them. The only female faces I actually saw of Saudi women were grandmothers. There ARE no bars there. Alcohol is strictly illegal. Lord have mercy. . .

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Geez...you guys are splitting hairs and missing the big picture. Everything said here could be said about Al Gore..."just a guy and a red line"...and the speaker even mentioned Al Gore, maybe to prove a point???

 

I taught economics for several years. Too much money is bad, mkay?

 

If leaves were money, I would spend days raking my yard and collecting money. However, when I went to get a gallon of milk, the store owner knows that I have plenty of leaves, so he jacks the price up. Besides, if I don't pay it, everyone else has plenty of leaves, too. One (or more) of them will pay it. Same with gas, same with cars, same with rent, same with utilities, etc.

 

Even Mark Twain wrote about the cost of living way back in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." Higher wages for everyone equals higher prices for everyone. His assistant could comprehend it, either.

 

:facepalm:

 

 

EDIT: I do see why some people are upset that some other people are not upset about Al Gore's "Global Warming," though some 600+ scientists disagree with the findings. It's "indisputable."

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