cold iron wrote:
This is so sad: from a proud, strong country to a laughing stock of the world.
Canadians Version of David Letterman's Top 10.
Just makes you want to shake your head in
disbelief, and, just maybe choke someone in charge.
This is Canada's Top Ten List of America's Stupidity !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
# 10 Only in America... could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 per plate
Obama campaign fund-raising event.
# 09 Only in America... could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black, 40+% of all federal entitlements goes to black Americans - 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!
# 08 Only in America... could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (the head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.
# 07 Only in America... can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media
primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.
# 06 Only in America... would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens. (probably should be number one)
# 05 Only in America... could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the
country's Constitution be called EXTREMISTS.
# 04 Only in America... could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.
# 03 Only in America... could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).
# 02 Only in America... could you collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded
history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year - for total spending of $7 Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough money.
# 01 Only in America.... could the rich people - who pay 89% of all income taxes - be accused of not
paying their "fair share" by people who don't pay any income taxes at all.
This is so sad: from a proud, strong country to a ... (
show quote)
Macroeconomics for morons: Why Congress should NOT balance its budget.
An ideal counterfeiter could produce perfect currency in any quantity, stay out of debt, and satisfy all his needs (subject to available resources). He wouldnt need to borrow money or to receive payment from others or to keep a budget.
Congress also produces perfect currency without Constitutional restriction on the quantity but it has debts and cannot satisfy all its needs, even when drowned in idle resources. And it borrows money and demands payment of taxes. And it needs to keep a budget. Why cant Congress behave just like an ideal counterfeiter?
Congress differs from the counterfeiter in that it spends enormously. It must also tax enormously, not because it needs the revenue for spending but to avoid inflation and hyper-inflation. Also, since we are an importing nation, we export cash. To replenish our currency supply and avoid deflation and depression, our budget deficit must exceed our trade deficit. Thats a good reason to keep a budget.
But why does Congress borrow money? By law, under the former gold standard regime, the Treasury had to auction interest-bearing bonds in the amount of the deficit to dissuade savers from trading their paper currency for gold and depleting our gold supply. But, with fiat currency, which we have had since 1971, there is no need to protect our gold supply and the Treasury could stop borrowing money. But the law is still
the law so Congress insists on borrowing money.
Should the Treasury stop borrowing money? No! The US Treasurys safe, interest-bearing instruments are needed for trade collateral, bank reserves, pension funds, etc. Auctioning the deficit (borrowing) supplies the market with the much-needed instruments.
The US dollar is a reserve currency only because we have a large debt and because about half of it is owned by foreigners. The dollars reserve status is a trade advantage that we need and thats why we need a large debt. Both foreign and domestic traders deal in large quantities of money and trade with dollars to avoid exchange rate losses. Also, interest-bearing bonds protect their trade collateral somewhat from inflation. For more than a century, Britains pound sterling was the worlds reserve currency and their debt/GDP ratio was often several times larger than our current 75% without exciting fears of unsustainable debt.
So, why cant Congress satisfy its needs, as would the ideal counterfeiter? Congress only spending restriction is the onset of harmful inflation (over 3%). Since the 2008 financial collapse, the Fed has been trying desperately to achieve 2% inflation without success.
So, Congress could spend much more than it now does without fear of inflation. So, why do we have 70,000 bridges in critical need of repair? Here, the problem is not economic but political. But why would politicians promote austerity?
Obviously, a powerful segment of the business community does not want Congress to spend because it prefers low spending and low taxes, even if the economy suffers. And business finds important advantages in keeping a large reserve army of unemployed. Quitting is reduced, the staff has stability, and replacements are readily available. Managing a business is much easier during a recession.
Austerity is good for Wall Street and bad for the rest of us. Vote out the deficit hawks! Fix the bridges!