|
You're thinking of Germany in 1920. In the US we had 20% inflation during WWI, then deflation until WWII. Deflation is a lot worse than inflation because everyone (especially employers) stop spending money.
Posted on 11/18/2005 11:40:48 AM PST by Robert Drobot
According to the Treasury Department, from 1776-2000, the first 224 years of U.S. history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions, but in the past four years alone, the Bush administration borrowed $1.05 trillion. ... "No American political leadership has ever willfully and deliberately mortgaged our country to foreign interests in the manner we have witnessed over the past four years," said Tanner. "If this recklessness is not stopped, I truly believe our economic freedom as American citizens is in great jeopardy." [CNSNews]
I wonder if there are any implications...
"The facts are not partisan, and they're not ideological," said David Walker, the nation's comptroller general. He should know. He's the nation's chief accountant and signs off on the government's balance sheet. America's fiscal future, he said, "is worse than advertised."
When the government next reports these numbers Dec. 15, the total is expected to reach $46 trillion to $50 trillion.
How much is $50 trillion? About $166,000 for each of the almost 300 million Americans. [Seatle Times]
American "wealth" is an illusion based on borrowed funds that will soon be cut off, followed by creditor claims. Are you ready to repay the $166,000 spent on your behalf?
I suspect that it'd be a waste.
One of the most copmmon phenomena reported worldwide during the Great Depression, especially on the European continent, was hyperinflation.
Explain to me how, in my complete ignorance, such a phenomenon could occur?
Drobot is what we call numerically challenged. Public debt is $8 trillion. There are over a billion acres of federal land. Drobot doesn't think they're worth $8k/acre -- even with buildings and mineral rights.
DON'T YOU HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE TYPE IN ALL CAPS? IT'S LIKE THEY ARE YELLING.
I've got a $10 calculator for him. If the 4 of us pitch in that'd be $15 each. LOL!
|
You're thinking of Germany in 1920. In the US we had 20% inflation during WWI, then deflation until WWII. Deflation is a lot worse than inflation because everyone (especially employers) stop spending money.
It's called publik skool math.
Dang!
I fell of my chair with that one--
At that time, the US economy was still humming along quite nicely.
By the time the US was facing enormous financial dislocations in 1930, Germany had relatively stabilized.
Excellent point.
What I find funny is that the people who seem to have the least confidence in the U.S. economy are Americans. Our enemies make baseless accusations but their economies are usually in the toilet. In a way this is a good thing. No one should be more critical and self aware about the dollar than Americans. It is this almost paranoid awareness that makes the dollar so valuable.
An interesting case study in international economics is the Liberian dollar, L$. They used to run "limited time offer" commercial spots for the U.S. memorabilia coins and maybe they still do. It was the closest thing to legalized fraud that I've ever witnessed [besides casinos]. They were selling it to Americans at a price that far exceeded the value of a Liberian dollar. I can't tell you how much money they actually made by doing this because I don't know off hand, but this example is just one of TRILLIONS of indicators that the U.S. Dollar and all that we do with it, even the irresponsible things we do with it, when compared to the economies around the world, we are it! We are the people and place to invest, hands down. But we SHOULD be more responsible... Mr. President, prosecute all ENRONism! Crush corrupt accountants and executives, thanks!
Sorry :^)
Your math SUCKS.
Interesting tagline. Of all the whacked conspiracy theories about the JFK assasination, the one that I find to be most interesting is the fact that JFK was assasinated shortly after instructing the treasury to print U.S. Notes not monetized through the Federal Reserve system. Recinding the order was amongst the first acts of LBJ. Not that I really care one way or ther other who offed Kennedy, but it's one of those historical oddities that makes me go "hmmmmm". My motto is: whenever there is weirdness about, follow the money.
Don't get your hopes up. The statist system that has evolved in Washington is so big and so deeply entrenched that there is no way to reform it. It has an inertia that no group of people can consciously control or keep track of. Things will likely go on as they are, until either the government dissolves after going completely bankrupt or some sort of populist strongman comes on the scene promising to eliminate corruption while holding the union together. Because of the way we keep strengthening the executive branch, all that is needed is for a charismatic opportunist to take advantage of an economic downturn or a national humiliation.
There can be no retrieving what is lost. The form of constitutionally limited government envisioned by the Founding Father is a historic relic, never to return as it was. Eventually something new will come into being that will preserve the principle of limited government and checks and balances.
This does not match with the views of most historians found on the web:
Nazi Economic Policy 1933-1939
Before the crash, 1.25 million people were unemployed in Germany. ... Hitler,
who was considered a fool in 1928 when he predicted economic disaster, ...
About the Great Depression
In Germany, unemployment rose sharply beginning in late 1929, ... In Germany,
economic distress directly contributed to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 ...the economic situation in Germany (map2) was made worse by the enormous debt with which the country had been burdened following the First World War. It had been forced to borrow heavily in order to pay "reparations" to the victorious European powers, as demanded by the Treat of Versailles (1919), and also to pay for industrial reconstruction. When the American economy fell into depression, US banks recalled their loans, causing the German banking system to collapse.
Germany
... German Worker's Party. Hitler discovered that he had the ability ... The U.S. depression hit Germany because their economy was tied to the U.S. The widespread unemployment and fear ...
I like it when they talk about the Federal Reserve unfairly profiting off the taxpayer. The foreign banks who own the Fed get to keep all that money, dontcha know?
Dan Rather?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
