Even I'm surprised. Household debt hits 16 trillion

[georgephillip]

Hudson's a Marxist economist.
Why did Marxism work out so well in the USSR?

Michael Hudson is Leon Trotsky's god-son.
Herman Kahn was not.

The Hard Fist of American Imperialism | Michael Hudson

"Herman Kahn, who is, I think a founder of the Hudson Institute, which you went to work for.

"He was also the inspiration for the Dr. Strangelove character and Stanley Kubrick’s film.

"There’s an award that the neocons give out every year named for him; Benjamin Netanyahu is a recent award winner.

"But Herman Kahn was he was on a panel for one of your talks, where you laid out your theory of 'Super Imperialism,' and how the United States actually gets other countries to subsidize its empire, and is able to expand and carry out this massive imperial project without having to impose austerity on its own population, as other countries have to do under IMF control.

"So Herman Kahn comes up to you after the talk and says, 'You actually identified the rip-off perfectly.'

"And your book starts selling like hotcakes in DC, I guess among people who work for the CIA, and people who work in the military-intelligence apparatus."

 

[Flash]

Yep!

Sacrificing for a war in Ukraine that didn't have to be while defense companies make record profits. When will the people learn that their interests & interests of warmongering capitalist are not the same? End the war in Ukraine, abolish NATO, reject "full spectrum dominance."

We need to stop all welfare, both domestic and foreign.

 

[gipper]

We need to stop all welfare, both domestic and foreign.

Let’s stop all the wasteful war spending first.

 

[Flash]

Let’s stop all the wasteful war spending first.

No, lets seal the border first and send all the goddamn Illegals back to Mexico or wherever they came from. That would be a little higher priority than withdrawing from Korea.

 

[georgephillip]

Whatever makes you stop whining like a little bitch.

Do you rhyme with bitch?

 

[gipper]

No, lets seal the border first and send all the goddamn Illegals back to Mexico or wherever they came from. That would be a little higher priority than withdrawing from Korea.

No. Constant war abroad leads to tyranny at home. We’re watching it occur in real time.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Do you rhyme with bitch?

I'm rich like a mofo.

 

[Flash]

No. Constant war abroad leads to tyranny at home. We’re watching it occur in real time.

My Priorities:

1. Reduce the Federal Budget down to the bare necessities like Defense, Courts, State Department etc. No welfare of any kind including foreign aid.

2. Seal the border.

3. Round up all Illegals and send them back.

4. Return to energy independence.

5. Stop fighting other people's wars for them.

6. Bring charges against the Democrats that sole the 2020 election.

 

[Woodznutz]

Back to the premise. Money is spent directly from the Treasury (the printing press), not through the banking system. Therefore it is not 'borrowed' money, but once in the economy it produces tax revenue, which can be used to retire federal debt.

You want to print money to reduce the debt?
Do you want to print $30 trillion? Less? How much?

Instead of issuing bonds to raise money we simply print it and inject it into the economy through government contracts. Once out there the money can create private debt but not government debt.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

We add a little equity here, reduce the debt a little there.

A couple of million?

 

[Woodznutz]

A couple of million?

Start small and see what happens.

 

[georgephillip]

Maybe or maybe he’s stuck in the late 18th century, with Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.

Smith was among the generations who believed capitalism could free the economy from the hereditary privileges and economic rents of feudalism, but he also recognized the threats posed by merchants and manufacturers gaining control of government:

Intro to the Study of Political Economy (continued) September ppt download

 

[georgephillip]

Instead of issuing bonds to raise money we simply print it and inject it into the economy through government contracts. Once out there the money can create private debt but not government debt.

That private debt will grow exponentially while production will not.
Eventually, the debt will reach a level where it can not be repaid.
Why not inject the money directly into the population?

Basic Income: Remittances from Nowhere | BIEN — Basic Income Earth Network

 

[gipper]

Smith was among the generations who believed capitalism could free the economy from the hereditary privileges and economic rents of feudalism, but he also recognized the threats posed by merchants and manufacturers gaining control of government:

Intro to the Study of Political Economy (continued) September ppt download

No surprise…Adam Smith is way smarter than the Parrot. Parrot would never criticize his beloved capitalism or recognize its many down sides.

 

[Woodznutz]

d.
Why not inject the money directly into the population?

It will go to the general population through wages paid by the contracted companies that receive the money.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

That private debt will grow exponentially while production will not.
Eventually, the debt will reach a level where it can not be repaid.
Why not inject the money directly into the population?

Basic Income: Remittances from Nowhere | BIEN — Basic Income Earth Network

The debt can't be repaid, the collateral changes hands and life goes on.

 

[georgephillip]

It will go to the general population through wages paid by the contracted companies that receive the money.

UBI must be applied unconditionally. It must reverse the current income distribution system in the US that essentially ties income and benefits to employment. With nearly 260 million adults 18 years or older living here, any successful UBI program would have to serve everyone regardless of unemployment status.

The Case for a Basic Income | Guy Standing

"Basic income is a centuries-old idea with roots in ideas of social justice.

"As Thomas Paine, an early advocate, said in his 1795 pamphlet Agrarian Justice, 'It is not charity, but a right, not bounty but justice that I am pleading for.'

"A basic income system would aim to assure basic economic security to all, independent of employment, by providing every legal resident of a country with an equal monthly sum of money, without conditions, as an economic right.1

"Such unconditionality is what distinguishes a basic income from other welfare programs.

"A modest basic income would be paid to individuals as individuals, regardless of household arrangements, work status or prior contributions.

"Importantly, it would be guaranteed to all regardless of other income, thus bypassing the stigmatizing and exclusionary means-testing intrinsic to many welfare programs."

 

[georgephillip]

No surprise…Adam Smith is way smarter than the Parrot. Parrot would never criticize his beloved capitalism or recognize its many down sides.

Capitalism has been the state religion here for centuries.
Maybe Covid will (eventually) change that?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

UBI must be applied unconditionally. It must reverse the current income distribution system in the US that essentially ties income and benefits to employment.

LOL!

 

[georgephillip]

It is the cost of government that has increased tremendously. Back in the 1950s the combined cost of federal, state and local government was in the teens percent of GDP and our country thrived and the middle class grew. Now it is almost 40% of the GDP and it is a great burden on the productive economy resulting in less family income

During the 1950s the gap between the richest one percent and a majority of Americans was smaller than at any time in the last century. The government didn't borrow from rich individuals and corporations, it taxed them at historically high levels. That all began to change with the Reagan revolution in 1980, and today we are back at 1929 levels of income inequality. It will get worse.

Historical Changes in U.S. Income Inequality - Sociological Images