United States Biden administration policies and actions - megathread

[strunkenwhite]

Be the primary holder of your debt. If your country holds its own debt, you're not going to default on it; Japan has something like 260% debt to GDP but this isn't much of an issue because the overwhelming majority is held by the Bank of Japan itself. Japan isn't going to call the debt collectors on itself, logically, and the same holds for China.

I dispute that Japan is a good example of this. From a brief search it appears that a little over 100% of its GDP worth of debt is held externally (by foreign debtholders), and this has been steadily increasing for at least a decade. The US has a little under 100% of its GDP worth of debt held externally, and this has been more or less stable over the same period of time. Japan could only "win" this comparison by having even more debt held domestically than the US does. If you mean debt held not only domestically but by the government itself, the Bank of Japan at 43% of Japan's total beats out the US at 22% of its total, but this is offset by Japan's total debt being twice as large in relation to GDP.

China is probably a much better example.

The U.S. has [...] also not been acquiring Gold like other central banks.

Sure, but it would be misleading to mention this without also mentioning that the US gold reserves are still the largest in the world and almost as large as #2, 3, and 4 combined.

 

[Zyobot]

Anyway, a more detailed analysis of Joe Potato’s latest blunder:

 

[Tiamat]

Anyway, a more detailed analysis of Joe Potato’s latest blunder:

Is he auditioning for the "I'VE FALLEN AND CAN'T GET UP" commercial??

 

[Zyobot]

Is he auditioning for the "I'VE FALLEN AND CAN'T GET UP" commercial??

Of course he is — shouldn’t even be a question, LOL!

 

[Bassoe]

End result of these factors is the mess we are into today. As I've said elsewhere on this forum, you have three options left as the United States:

1. Crash the economy, at somewhere between Great Recession and Great Depression levels, by drastically cutting Federal spending.
2. Defaulting on the debt, with about the same impact as the above and immediately ends the Dollar Reserve status system.
3. Let inflation run red hot at 20% or so for 4-5 years, give or take. This will inflate the debt away like we did after WWII, but at the cost of mass reductions in living standards in a country where roughly equal numbers of Leftists and Rightists support secession, with active secession measures under debate in Texas and with roughly 25% of Americans saying taking up arms against the Government is valid.

Forgot Option Four, scifi-tier pie-in-the-sky megaengineering projects to actually acquire enough value. Paying the whole national debt in one go with asteroid mining and the like.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Forgot Option Four, scifi-tier pie-in-the-sky megaengineering projects to actually acquire enough value. Paying the whole national debt in one go with asteroid mining and the like.

He doesn't want you thinking about that. The strategy of presenting three options, two of which are horrid, to make it seem like your preferred one is the only viable choice is an old and reliable con artist trick. Anybody who tries to tell you there are only a handful of possible options for something as complex as the United States' economy is trying to trick you. He's left out tax reform, cutting spending, and a host of other options. In debate, it's part of the family of Illicit Presumption, specifically the fallacy of False Choice.

2.4: Fallacies of Illicit Presumption

This is a family of fallacies whose common characteristic is that they (often tacitly, implicitly) presume the truth of some claim that they’re not entitled to. They are arguments with a …

human.libretexts.org

A more honest analysis that doesn't use the fallacy of false choice will look more like the CBO's 2020 Budget-cutting report, which has 83 different options.

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56783-budget-options.pdf

It also estimates potential savings for each option though that's rather a bit more analysis than one should fairly expect from a forum post.

 

[49ersfootball]

Howdy from the Alamo City Sietch family. President Biden hosting the 2022 Super Bowl champion KC Chiefs at the White House today. Let's hope Biden doesn't embarrass himself by falling down on his face again!

Just saying!

 

[Bear Ribs]

 

[The Whispering Monk]

Look! More useless people who want to cause harm!

 

[DarthOne]

I feel sorry for the United Nations if they try…

 

[mrttao]

> Slavery still exists in USA

Technically true. A woman can lie and randomly claim you to be the father of her child. A genetic test can prove you are not the father, but it won't matter... you will still be her slave.

 

[Cherico]

yeah that isn't going to happen.

Pretty much all of the middle east continued practicing slavery using african long after america stopped and some still use slaves to this day. Then you have all of the countries that committed war crimes of an absolutely horrific state and then you have France and Great britian who both have UN vetos who do not want to open up that can of worms.

Also you know its been over a 150 years since slavery ended.

Over a 150 years, its legit time to get the fuck over that shit.

 

[Blasterbot]

> Slavery still exists in USA

Technically true. A woman can lie and randomly claim you to be the father of her child. A genetic test can prove you are not the father, but it won't matter... you will still be her slave.

cartels and gangs do have sex slaves from time to time. in the U.S. it isn't common but globally there are more slaves now than ever.

 

[Zyobot]

He's right, you know.

The Democrats better pay slaves' descendants the $5 million each of them are owed, pronto!

 

[mrttao]

cartels and gangs do have sex slaves from time to time. in the U.S. it isn't common but globally there are more slaves now than ever.

hmm, the cartels have started to infiltrate america thanks to the open border policy.

 

[History Learner]

I dispute that Japan is a good example of this. From a brief search it appears that a little over 100% of its GDP worth of debt is held externally (by foreign debtholders), and this has been steadily increasing for at least a decade. The US has a little under 100% of its GDP worth of debt held externally, and this has been more or less stable over the same period of time. Japan could only "win" this comparison by having even more debt held domestically than the US does. If you mean debt held not only domestically but by the government itself, the Bank of Japan at 43% of Japan's total beats out the US at 22% of its total, but this is offset by Japan's total debt being twice as large in relation to GDP.

China is probably a much better example.

That's entirely the point; Japan is able to have much more debt without inflation. This is why it gets cited by MMT proponents but they leave out the other factors that make it able to do so, such as having 10-15x the Forex reserves of the U.S. and a trade surplus to export it's Inflation.

Sure, but it would be misleading to mention this without also mentioning that the US gold reserves are still the largest in the world and almost as large as #2, 3, and 4 combined.

Yes, but total U.S. Forex reserves are only $242 Billion. China is at $3 Trillion and Japan at about $1.5 Trillion.

 

[strunkenwhite]

That's entirely the point; Japan is able to have much more debt without inflation. This is why it gets cited by MMT proponents but they leave out the other factors that make it able to do so, such as having 10-15x the Forex reserves of the U.S. and a trade surplus to export it's Inflation.

Perhaps, but you also cited as one of Japan's strengths compared to the US its proportion of domestically held debt vs. foreigner held debt, and that claim doesn't hold up to the evidence.

Yes, but total U.S. Forex reserves are only $242 Billion. China is at $3 Trillion and Japan at about $1.5 Trillion.

I agree the US doesn't hold a candle to China or Japan's total forex reserves, but that wasn't my point.

 

[Bear Ribs]

He's right, you know.

The Democrats better pay slaves' descendants the $5 million each of them are owed, pronto!

Quit being so stingy. They want 200 million.

 

[History Learner]

Perhaps, but you also cited as one of Japan's strengths compared to the US its proportion of domestically held debt vs. foreigner held debt, and that claim doesn't hold up to the evidence.

But it does, because as you noted of Japan's larger debt total, it's overwhelmingly domestically held. Japan's debt to GDP is much higher than that of the United States, and that's precisely because it owns that higher amount.

I agree the US doesn't hold a candle to China or Japan's total forex reserves, but that wasn't my point.

Sure, but if you recall I didn't say their FOREX holdings were solely in Gold either.

 

[strunkenwhite]

But it does, because as you noted of Japan's larger debt total, it's overwhelmingly domestically held. Japan's debt to GDP is much higher than that of the United States, and that's precisely because it owns that higher amount.

What do you classify as "overwhelming"? 43% wouldn't make the cut in most circumstances, after all, to merit that term.

And as I noted, Japan's higher proportion of domestically held debt merely balances out its higher overall debt compared to that of the US; it doesn't work out to superiority.

If you and I both owe $10,000 to a loan shark, but you also owe $10 million to yourself, that doesn't mean you're in less trouble than me!

Sure, but if you recall I didn't say their FOREX holdings were solely in Gold either.

But what you did say was that the US has "also not been acquiring Gold like other central banks." To which I replied, and this is the only point I'm trying to make with respect to this particular topic, that you shouldn't mention this and only this fact about the gold reserves (i.e. without mentioning overall gold holdings) because it's misleading. It would be entirely correct to state that China and Japan both have much larger overall forex reserves than the US does. It would also be currently correct to say that they are both increasing their reserves faster than the US is increasing its own, though all three do appear to be increasing lately.