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In the modern world, governments don't really govern anything except economic policy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by davebarnes
I, for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords.
Does anyone really think that life in American would be any different, if we became a Chinese colony, and all administrative positions of authority were occupied by bureaucrats sent over from China? How could it be worse than it is now?
The only thing that would make life difficult is all the gung-ho nutcases that would run around as a form of resistance militia, and the rest of us would have our liberty curtailed because of those national security issues. Pretty much the way we have our liberties curtailed now because of imaginary nut-cases supposedly wanting to force us to peak Arabic, or, even worse, the dreaded Spanish.
Economically (to stay on topic), Americans would keep on doing just as well. Better, for the poor and marginalized. The 1% can just steer their sailboats to the Caymans, and stay there. As a citizen, I'd rather answer to the Chinese puppets, than to those of the 1%.
Economics and politics are inseparable. The moderate left is closely allied with Keynesian economics, therefore the policy discussions emanating from the left interchange wholesale with the economic concepts underlying them. And vice versa. Austrian economics (or the related Chicago School) are associated with the free-market right. Marxian and related non-orthodox economic positions are associated with the far left. There is no escaping these realities.
Economics cannot be mere analysis, because economic theory remains useless until put into practice. And everything economic is politicized. The Fed is politicized in discussions, the welfare state is politicized (even beyond discussions of debt and the multiplier effect and efficient investment of capital), etc...
Expecting people to academically restrict their discussion of economic issues in a bloodless, distant manner misses the point; people study economics because they care about the outcomes and you can only achieve those outcomes through the political process.
In the modern world, governments don't really govern anything except economic policy.
Does anyone really think that life in American would be any different, if we became a Chinese colony, and all administrative positions of authority were occupied by bureaucrats sent over from China? How could it be worse than it is now?
Of course modern gov'ts do more than just economics.
Security, armies, general laws and controls and regulations of all sorts. Many having nothing to do with the economy or money per se.
General administration, policies and direction.
I'm sure many others.
We are the USA, and China is China. China currently in evolution about a generation or two below the US economically. The USD has been king since WW2, and right now, no other currency is a serious competitor.
OK maybe the Euro.
That being said, the USA dominates because of its physical success and because of the success of the USD.
China still needs USD to run itself in our world today. We don't need one Yuan! China needs us much more than we need them, right now and for the foreseeable future.
In a generation as China makes its pivot more towards their own people and consumerism, much like the USA did post-WW2, China and the Yuan might very well rise in our world and present some useful competition for the USD.
But right now the USD still is king. And to think that the USA and people would be better served by a foreign currency is pure madness!
Economics and politics should not overlap. I thought this was an intellectual improvement from Politics and Controversies, but it's the same divisive dialogue. SMH
Uhh... I am not sure what world you live in, but in the real world the purpose of politics is economics.
Politicians spend the taxpayers money. They get to choose what corporations get the government contracts.
Government contracts are worth trillions of dollars every year. People involved in this game lie, cheat , steal, murder, blackmail, and deal in every other conceivable crime in order to gain the advantage in this game.
Everything overlaps. Forums like this are often visited by people with vested interests in creating or in changing other peoples perception of reality.
The criminals who make money off the sheeple have a vested interest in keeping sheeple stupid and confused so that they can be taken advantage of.
LOL! Ya, if you think the Chinese are winning here... We print money and exchange it for goods. At the end of the day, we possess items of physical worth. They have IOUs. If SHTF, we could always barter. They might be able to dry their tears with all the useless paper.
Most economics forums are not as politicized as this one. /r/economics on Reddit isn't so obsessed with the right vs left.
Are you aware that there are four sub-forums? There is one forum each for the non-political aspects of economics: business, finance and investing; and a more specialized finance forum for frugal living.
That was all about a trillion dollars in tax monies kicked back to the shareholders in the military/industrial complex.
The Vietnam war was all about solidifying a huge Southeast Asian market for American exports and resource exploitation.
Security was never, I repeat, NEVER an issue in any war in your living memory. Not even a footnote.
Economics and big money players very commonly have major and unbalanced roles in what our central Gov't does. No question about that. But 'WE' were in SE Asia due to a general and pervasive worry about the threat of Communism. Real or imagined.
I and of course many others never thought we should be there for this reason.
McDonnell Douglas may well have helped push us into there.
As well as maybe some of our major exporters. That I do no know or recall.
But right or wrong we were in SE Asia due to the Commie threat.
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