Is any of this response directed at me? I was mostly chipping in about the whole "china owns our debt OH NO" thing.
In a way both of you, but in terms of your assessment the Fed owns most of the debt and can just use currency manipulation to kill the Chinese economy bond holdings then place a call on Chinese local bonds that are owned by the Fed. China keeps it's debt local, Americans nationalize ours.
Oh? When did it surpass what Social Security owned? I hadn't heard that the fed was the single biggest owner now.
Right, we do, which is nifty. Even at the height of the financial crisis when T-Bill's had a negative interest rate countries were still buying them since it let them lose money slower than they otherwise would. Crazy, but nifty. Keeping the debt local works for awhile, but once they reach a certain level of prominance doesn't nationalizing the debt allow for significant levels of investment somewhat akin to a corporation's IPO allowing it to start making significantly higher amounts of money than before?
Is any of this response directed at me? I was mostly chipping in about the whole "china owns our debt OH NO" thing.
In a way both of you, but in terms of your assessment the Fed owns most of the debt and can just use currency manipulation to kill the Chinese economy bond holdings then place a call on Chinese local bonds that are owned by the Fed. China keeps it's debt local, Americans nationalize ours.
Oh? When did it surpass what Social Security owned? I hadn't heard that the fed was the single biggest owner now.
Right, we do, which is nifty. Even at the height of the financial crisis when T-Bill's had a negative interest rate countries were still buying them since it let them lose money slower than they otherwise would. Crazy, but nifty. Keeping the debt local works for awhile, but once they reach a certain level of prominance doesn't nationalizing the debt allow for significant levels of investment somewhat akin to a corporation's IPO allowing it to start making significantly higher amounts of money than before?
Depends on what you read and what metrics. I've heard both, it's been a while. Main thing I like to keep in mind is we owe ourselves the more.
It's the flight to safety for the US as reserve currency and so forth, you see this is why Japan has a high debt to GDP ratio with 2% growth and with a long history of debt repayment after WWII. Nationalizing is the "smart idea," however China:
1. Interior is not developed
2. China has a lot of third world history, where countries get screwed by national debt. REmember they're not borrowing all in the renminbi. If their currency tanks they have to repay in dollars and so forth and can't pump prime like the US or others as easily since they'll never catch up to buy expensive dollars with cheap renminbi. So it's easier to let a small municipality go into receivership than it is for the nation at large to go into default. Greece with 1 billion people? Even going through what Iceland did or Argentina would be extremely bad for the CCP.
China isn't "rational" in the way most countries understand, it's a combination of a corporate technocratic state, socialism, militaristic hegemony, and a long cultural standing with works like Sun Tzu's art of war and other government works. It wasn't the French that invented big government, it was the Chinese. Chinese are weird like Americans.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Life is a beautiful engineer, yet a brutal scientist.
Guess I shouldn't be surprised that Vladamir Putin would use nukes as a political bargaining chip like what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-il have done in the past. The U.S. was successful in stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program with cyber warfare but what are the chances of that happening against Russia? What's Putin trying to gain by invading Ukraine and other neighboring countries?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Is any of this response directed at me? I was mostly chipping in about the whole "china owns our debt OH NO" thing.
In a way both of you, but in terms of your assessment the Fed owns most of the debt and can just use currency manipulation to kill the Chinese economy bond holdings then place a call on Chinese local bonds that are owned by the Fed. China keeps it's debt local, Americans nationalize ours.
Oh? When did it surpass what Social Security owned? I hadn't heard that the fed was the single biggest owner now.
Right, we do, which is nifty. Even at the height of the financial crisis when T-Bill's had a negative interest rate countries were still buying them since it let them lose money slower than they otherwise would. Crazy, but nifty. Keeping the debt local works for awhile, but once they reach a certain level of prominance doesn't nationalizing the debt allow for significant levels of investment somewhat akin to a corporation's IPO allowing it to start making significantly higher amounts of money than before?
Depends on what you read and what metrics. I've heard both, it's been a while. Main thing I like to keep in mind is we owe ourselves the more.
It's the flight to safety for the US as reserve currency and so forth, you see this is why Japan has a high debt to GDP ratio with 2% growth and with a long history of debt repayment after WWII. Nationalizing is the "smart idea," however China:
1. Interior is not developed
2. China has a lot of third world history, where countries get screwed by national debt. REmember they're not borrowing all in the renminbi. If their currency tanks they have to repay in dollars and so forth and can't pump prime like the US or others as easily since they'll never catch up to buy expensive dollars with cheap renminbi. So it's easier to let a small municipality go into receivership than it is for the nation at large to go into default. Greece with 1 billion people? Even going through what Iceland did or Argentina would be extremely bad for the CCP.
China isn't "rational" in the way most countries understand, it's a combination of a corporate technocratic state, socialism, militaristic hegemony, and a long cultural standing with works like Sun Tzu's art of war and other government works. It wasn't the French that invented big government, it was the Chinese. Chinese are weird like Americans.
Fair enough, but yes, the important part is that the majority of US debt is US owned and publicly owned at that. The rhetoric on our national debt, particularly from the alarmists, rarely mentions that.
Re: 1. Absolutely. In my travels in the Hunan province the rural farming villages are still a thing. They are akin to a spiderweb of roads with farmland stretched between them. Each family home is the same, built quickly from mass produced concrete bricks (something like a 1 inch thick and maybe a square foot) that is then built up. The downstairs is a shop, the upstairs where people sleep. When driving around I saw these being built pretty much constantly to provide space for new families. Great place to visit, I had a lot of fun exploring, but its very poor. I did have some fantastic meals at what was essentially a very nice mud cabin.
Re: 2. Indeed. The culture is very much them against the world. I saw a few "no Japanese served" signs here and there and they really loved westerners. My dad and I would have people want to take photo's with us and ask us questions about America and the rest of the world and stuff. It was nifty. About the only place this didn't happen was when I was at Mao Zedongs museum which is an insanely big shrine to the dude to the point of having a display for his toothbrush. (and Nixon's business card, which was actually amusing)
Re your last point, absolutely, its a very different world in China and it was fascinating to get glimpses of the culture through my travels. The sense of community is very strong which I enjoyed. I danced with an old women in the street once. There was a boombox playing some sort of song and there were a bunch of old women dancing and one of them pulled me into the circle. I got the sense that most people on the ground just tried to live their lives the best they could while letting people with more skill and experience than they fight their battles for them since they know that they've got a reputation in the world that isn't the best and that they want to be taken more seriously.
The culture is very much them against the world. I saw a few "no Japanese served" signs here and there and they really loved westerners.
Most countries are no different re: the first thought.
RE: the Japanese bit > my extended family in Malaysia suffered terribly through the Japanese occupation in WW2, from what I've heard & read of history, the Japanese were pretty ruthless in mainland china. I can FULLY understand why that thought would still be present.
.... they know that they've got a reputation in the world that isn't the best and that they want to be taken more seriously.
From what I've heard from my relatives, there's a feeling that the world doesn't want to be friends with China.
When you factor in stuff like the Korean and Vietnam war where China was not the wests' ally, and that the Communist state was treated like a terrorist govt. by the western world by in large, it wasn't until the Australian PM Gough Whitlam broke the ice and started relations with China back in the 70's that the western world started to accept china's govt as genuine, let alone even talk to them in the first place.
It's a short time when you think about it...
The culture is very much them against the world. I saw a few "no Japanese served" signs here and there and they really loved westerners.
Most countries are no different re: the first thought.
RE: the Japanese bit > my extended family in Malaysia suffered terribly through the Japanese occupation in WW2, from what I've heard & read of history, the Japanese were pretty ruthless in mainland china. I can FULLY understand why that thought would still be present.
.... they know that they've got a reputation in the world that isn't the best and that they want to be taken more seriously.
From what I've heard from my relatives, there's a feeling that the world doesn't want to be friends with China.
When you factor in stuff like the Korean and Vietnam war where China was not the wests' ally, and that the Communist state was treated like a terrorist govt. by the western world by in large, it wasn't until the Australian PM Gough Whitlam broke the ice and started relations with China back in the 70's that the western world started to accept china's govt as genuine, let alone even talk to them in the first place.
It's a short time when you think about it...
Indeed, it is, but its worth mentioning because, almost like the US's reaction to 9/11, that the Chinese have nursed that offense for much longer than I would have thoght. The japanese did some nasty ***** in WW2, nanking comes to mind, but to still have signs up in random inland area's of China is rare. It'd be like if there was a no muslims sign in a random city in Arkansas 30 years from now.
There is a good history for that them vs the world thing. The divvying up of china, the opium wars, lots of abuse. I get it. Its something that I just wanted to articulate and thanks for providing some more context, slave
the Communist state was treated like a terrorist govt. by the western world by in large...
Mao did literally write the book on terrorism.
I believe David Ben-Gurion had a good deal to say here too. Some of the tactics the Jewish forces used to *cleanse* area's were abhorrent.
Considering history is often written by the winners, even many of the western texts (which we can safely assume may have Jewish bias), paint him as a pretty nasty piece of work.
I mean, obviously he was set up, and we can blame the Jews for that.
What you did there, I see it. But I didn't feel like linking the image macro of the vet lady with the flamingo staring her down. I wish I had made it down into mainland China. Closest I got was Hong Kong. Russia being cavalier with giant gun isn't really new either, but Putin is cunning. Russia attempting to regain lost prestige or access to land/bases in formerly Soviet territories mostly. I also doubt that fact sheets are accurate since true military strength is usually never reported.
Oh? When did it surpass what Social Security owned? I hadn't heard that the fed was the single biggest owner now.
Right, we do, which is nifty. Even at the height of the financial crisis when T-Bill's had a negative interest rate countries were still buying them since it let them lose money slower than they otherwise would. Crazy, but nifty. Keeping the debt local works for awhile, but once they reach a certain level of prominance doesn't nationalizing the debt allow for significant levels of investment somewhat akin to a corporation's IPO allowing it to start making significantly higher amounts of money than before?
Depends on what you read and what metrics. I've heard both, it's been a while. Main thing I like to keep in mind is we owe ourselves the more.
It's the flight to safety for the US as reserve currency and so forth, you see this is why Japan has a high debt to GDP ratio with 2% growth and with a long history of debt repayment after WWII. Nationalizing is the "smart idea," however China:
1. Interior is not developed
2. China has a lot of third world history, where countries get screwed by national debt. REmember they're not borrowing all in the renminbi. If their currency tanks they have to repay in dollars and so forth and can't pump prime like the US or others as easily since they'll never catch up to buy expensive dollars with cheap renminbi. So it's easier to let a small municipality go into receivership than it is for the nation at large to go into default. Greece with 1 billion people? Even going through what Iceland did or Argentina would be extremely bad for the CCP.
China isn't "rational" in the way most countries understand, it's a combination of a corporate technocratic state, socialism, militaristic hegemony, and a long cultural standing with works like Sun Tzu's art of war and other government works. It wasn't the French that invented big government, it was the Chinese. Chinese are weird like Americans.
Modern
Commander
Cube
<a href="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/588020-unpowered-themed-enchantment-an-enchanted-evening">An Enchanted Evening Cube </a>
Guess I shouldn't be surprised that Vladamir Putin would use nukes as a political bargaining chip like what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-il have done in the past. The U.S. was successful in stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program with cyber warfare but what are the chances of that happening against Russia? What's Putin trying to gain by invading Ukraine and other neighboring countries?
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Fair enough, but yes, the important part is that the majority of US debt is US owned and publicly owned at that. The rhetoric on our national debt, particularly from the alarmists, rarely mentions that.
Re: 1. Absolutely. In my travels in the Hunan province the rural farming villages are still a thing. They are akin to a spiderweb of roads with farmland stretched between them. Each family home is the same, built quickly from mass produced concrete bricks (something like a 1 inch thick and maybe a square foot) that is then built up. The downstairs is a shop, the upstairs where people sleep. When driving around I saw these being built pretty much constantly to provide space for new families. Great place to visit, I had a lot of fun exploring, but its very poor. I did have some fantastic meals at what was essentially a very nice mud cabin.
Re: 2. Indeed. The culture is very much them against the world. I saw a few "no Japanese served" signs here and there and they really loved westerners. My dad and I would have people want to take photo's with us and ask us questions about America and the rest of the world and stuff. It was nifty. About the only place this didn't happen was when I was at Mao Zedongs museum which is an insanely big shrine to the dude to the point of having a display for his toothbrush. (and Nixon's business card, which was actually amusing)
Re your last point, absolutely, its a very different world in China and it was fascinating to get glimpses of the culture through my travels. The sense of community is very strong which I enjoyed. I danced with an old women in the street once. There was a boombox playing some sort of song and there were a bunch of old women dancing and one of them pulled me into the circle. I got the sense that most people on the ground just tried to live their lives the best they could while letting people with more skill and experience than they fight their battles for them since they know that they've got a reputation in the world that isn't the best and that they want to be taken more seriously.
Most countries are no different re: the first thought.
RE: the Japanese bit > my extended family in Malaysia suffered terribly through the Japanese occupation in WW2, from what I've heard & read of history, the Japanese were pretty ruthless in mainland china. I can FULLY understand why that thought would still be present.
From what I've heard from my relatives, there's a feeling that the world doesn't want to be friends with China.
When you factor in stuff like the Korean and Vietnam war where China was not the wests' ally, and that the Communist state was treated like a terrorist govt. by the western world by in large, it wasn't until the Australian PM Gough Whitlam broke the ice and started relations with China back in the 70's that the western world started to accept china's govt as genuine, let alone even talk to them in the first place.
It's a short time when you think about it...
Indeed, it is, but its worth mentioning because, almost like the US's reaction to 9/11, that the Chinese have nursed that offense for much longer than I would have thoght. The japanese did some nasty ***** in WW2, nanking comes to mind, but to still have signs up in random inland area's of China is rare. It'd be like if there was a no muslims sign in a random city in Arkansas 30 years from now.
There is a good history for that them vs the world thing. The divvying up of china, the opium wars, lots of abuse. I get it. Its something that I just wanted to articulate and thanks for providing some more context, slave
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
I believe David Ben-Gurion had a good deal to say here too. Some of the tactics the Jewish forces used to *cleanse* area's were abhorrent.
Considering history is often written by the winners, even many of the western texts (which we can safely assume may have Jewish bias), paint him as a pretty nasty piece of work.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
What you did there, I see it. But I didn't feel like linking the image macro of the vet lady with the flamingo staring her down. I wish I had made it down into mainland China. Closest I got was Hong Kong. Russia being cavalier with giant gun isn't really new either, but Putin is cunning. Russia attempting to regain lost prestige or access to land/bases in formerly Soviet territories mostly. I also doubt that fact sheets are accurate since true military strength is usually never reported.
Big Thanks to Xeno for sig art <3.