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q6vi528gseA

I loled at the other guest's reaction.

So does Greenspan not understand basic economic principles or is he just lying in a misguided attempt to boost morale?

Technically he's right, the US could just print trillions of dollars and pay off all the debts it owes. The fallout from that would suck, though.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Technically he's right, the US could just print trillions of dollars and pay off all the debts it owes. The fallout from that would suck, though.
Yeah but that's like saying you can technically repair a broken power line by holding both ends in each hand.

Edit: Does that analogy make sense? I haven't studied electricity in a while.

It is truly pathetic if Alan really believes this is a solution.

We already don't have gold backing all of the printed money we have out there - and our coins have become mixtures that contain less and less of the original metal that was considered of value.

Eventually our money becomes worthless when there's nothing backing it - it's like building a house with no foundation under it.

Alan Greenspan: "We can always Jew the economy."

And how did he become Fed Chairman again???

We can print more money as long as we do what a bunch of other countries just did and ban short sales since shorting is really the engine that drives hyperinflation. As for Greenspan, as a member of Ayn Rand's cult, it's a travesty that he was put in charge of the Fed and a miscarriage of justice that he wasn't institutionalized like all hardcore Objectivists should be.

the gold standard will save us

all hail the gold standard

Well, it seems like he's mainly arguing that there's zero probability of the US defaulting. Which is true. I don't think he says that's his suggestion of dealing with it though. Would be interesting to see what he goes on to say and what predated it.

Though, I do think that he's missing the point, cause obviously buying bonds is not a smart option at all if your interest is eaten up by inflation.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
Yeah but that's like saying you can technically repair a broken power line by holding both ends in each hand.

Edit: Does that analogy make sense? I haven't studied electricity in a while.


They could just print enough money to pay off the debts and then destroy trillions of dollars in money shortly afterwards.



Problems averted.

Originally posted by dadudemon
They could just print enough money to pay off the debts and then destroy trillions of dollars in money shortly afterwards.



Problems averted.




I prefer nuclear accounting.

"What debts? Mister AGM-129, do you remember anything about us being in debt?"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, America owing debt is BS, it's like the biggest toughest bully in school owing the the weakling $2.00. Will the US ever have to pay all out? Likely no.

Well over half of the US debt is owed to America/Americans/American institutions. So there's a nice huge chunk of that 14 trillion America can float indefinitely. The other 35-40% is owed to nations that both can't force America to pay and/or can't afford to severe relations and/or trading with the US.

that is entirely true...

the way debt has hijacked American politics is very strange. I'm not saying national debt is good, but it certainly doesn't present near as much of a problem as other issues, even within the economy...

Then again, lots of people still believe (wrongly) that the recession was a result of too much government or personal debt, so there is that....

Originally posted by Omega Vision
q6vi528gseA

I loled at the other guest's reaction.

So does Greenspan not understand basic economic principles or is he just lying in a misguided attempt to boost morale? That IS basic economic principle.

"WE"? Then I should be able to print money for myself and my family

Originally posted by alltoomany
"WE"? Then I should be able to print money for myself and my family

"We" as in the country, not you, me and your mailman.

Though considering it's Greenspan, maybe he was using a nosism, ie the royal "we" and plans on printing money in his basement for personal use. Wouldn't surprise me.