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I'm not an economist, but I was just reading that Ireland appears to be the next country to follow Iceland and a few others in declaring bankruptcy. It got me thinking. Is the economic spectrum such that in this giant global economy the more countries that fail, the better it is for America? For instance, more Irish start emigrating to the US and improve the intelligence banks; or there's less countries to have to divide the pie with--that sort of thing?
The general consensus is that "global balance of trade" will, in all but short term, outweigh any "zero sum game" like net migration.
The more people the world over that are "well off" and able to spend disposable income on goods and services that are discretionary the better off all are.
Ireland's collapse would not be good for the Irish or Americans or anyone else...
There is a big elephant right in the room that you're totally overlooking - the very real possibility and likelihood that the U.S. economy will collapse entirely. I think what we've just seen for the past nine months is only the prelude.
It will be interesting to see how the U.S. government actually defaults on its debt obligations. Will it do so honestly like the Russians did in 1998 and simply not pay, or will Ben Bernake fire up the printing presses to full capacity and pay everyone in mini-dollars?
If the Federal Govt just put the Los Padres Nat'l Forest and the Channel Islands up for sale to the highest foreign bidder for mineral rights and luxury development it could pay off the national debt tomorrow. While the USA holds assets like that it doesn't even have to think of bankruptcy. Think of all those wealthy Asians out there who would love to populate four lovely Mediterranean islands right off the Cali coast. It's Hawaii archipelago on steroids. And the Fed still retains 95% of its other assets. As for the endangered birds and snails over there, let 'em migrate to greener pastures.
Last edited by thrillobyte; 07-19-2009 at 08:13 PM..
Reason: too stark
There is a big elephant right in the room that you're totally overlooking - the very real possibility and likelihood that the U.S. economy will collapse entirely. I think what we've just seen for the past nine months is only the prelude.
It will be interesting to see how the U.S. government actually defaults on its debt obligations. Will it do so honestly like the Russians did in 1998 and simply not pay, or will Ben Bernake fire up the printing presses to full capacity and pay everyone in mini-dollars?
If one were to look at the situation in a completely unbiased position with absolutely no vested interest in what happens to the economy, they would understand very quickly we have set ourselves up perfectly for a complete collapse. Really, we have left ourselves with no other option. US policy has written the book on how to crash an economy.
You know you are standing on your last leg when you "save" an economy via debt spending...also taking note to the existing debt situation. What a ****ing joke we will be living.
I really don’t see the fed printing any more worthless money to counter defaulted debts. What you will see is the US losing control over domestic corporations to countries like China who hold 2 trillion in reserves in foreign currency. (interesting how a country with such a poor standard of living has 2 trillion in foreign reserves alone while the country with one of the highest standards of living is 11 trillion in the negative)
It’s not in China’s best interest to allow our inflation to skyrocket. We are the fuel for their economy, and eventually, we will be nothing more than an empty gas can.
Our prisons should be filled with politicians, executives, and Wall St.’ers instead of potheads and drunks.
Recapiltalization works, and those tin foil hat wearing types just are too outside of mainstream thought /reality to acknowledge this fact.
Yes, in theory it does work. With our deficit and debt, it does not. You can’t recapitalize with fictitious dollars.
That's like me getting into a personal financial bind and applying for credit cards to catch up on my bills. Yes, initially I can pay some bills, but if I'm not going to get off my fat ass to make extra cash, a more severe and lengthy crash is inevitably to follow.
For instance, more Irish start emigrating to the US and improve the intelligence banks; or there's less countries to have to divide the pie with--that sort of thing?
The simple answer to this is no. emigrating from Ireland is next to impossible believe it or not.
The company I used to own started an Ireland office back in the 90's. We ended up hiring a few people that were very good and we wanted to bring them to the States to work here. I don't remember all the details as the lawyers handled it, but I can tell you it was a royal pain in the ass and very expensive.
Yes, in theory it does work. With our deficit and debt, it does not. You can’t recapitalize with fictitious dollars.
That's like me getting into a persona financial bind and applying for credit cards to catch up on my bills. Yes, initially I can pay some bills, but if I'm not going to get off my fat ass to make extra cash, a more severe and lengthy crash is inevitably to follow.
That's exactly right. You cannot compare Germany to America. Germany has an economy that's based on savings and production. Their citizens don't go into massive amounts of debt, and they save their money. They produce goods that people in other countries purchase. Their money comes from scarce goods produced by scarce labor. Ours has come from inflated asset bubbles and paper-pushing in the past and today is coming from Ben Bernake's printing press. This isn't rocket science...
yohoo, did anyone see my post about selling the Los Padres and Channel Islands. And before you start calling me a tinfoil hat type I ask, "what's wrong with the idea?" China, Korea, Taiwan, all those big players would lap up that prime real estate.
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