Aside from the fact that that is illegal it would throw the credit markets into chaos, the credit rating would be such that interest rates for government backed securities explode upward if in fact anyone would buy them

So easy to budget when all there was, was cash.
Budget was balanced when pockets and wallet were empty!

Seems that they should raise prices enough to reduce the number of cars to 6 to 8.

The problem is you are trusting CNN to tell you the truth and not just be lying again about "death and destruction in 30 years".

Humans have died out of suffered world wide disaster many times in my lifetime, according to CNN experts.

My PhD is based on debt so I feel I am reasonably qualified to answer this.

If you want to predict the future study the past. In this respect the answer can be found in David Graeber’s anthropological book DEBT The First 5000 years. Its worth a read and shows how debt has formed our history. The impact of debt is far reaching from politics, war, rape, slavery, treason and uprisings. When debt becomes too great people become poor, disillusioned with their leaders/the system and then there’s an uprising. Countries keep printing money to get over the short term problem but debt has to be repaid or deflated. You also need a catalyst. The banking crisis was the start, Covid was the next. We just need a change in climate that wrecks food stocks for a year or two and cause inflation (in Europe we have this with the war in Ukraine).

Add to this tax systems and changing demographics around the world. The western nations are getting older with promises of early retirement, people living longer and ring fenced state pensions vs market based private pensions. Assets bought over the past 40 years were purchased on supply and demand, but in the long run will depreciate. This will cause future pensions to decrease. Maybe people will work longer… but this will create a young/old, and public/private pension divide.

Hard choices and a REAL risk of a world war is coming. 15 to 20 years max. Then we’ll see the great re-distribution that is muted. Debt will end up being written off and the ultra wealthy will be brought down a peg. This will be at both personal AND national level as we see a redistribution of global powers.

So tips. Putin threw the first stone after Covid. China I think is sitting watching and waiting for the west to deplete its cash, exceed its ability to repay debt, and then it will strike… maybe Taiwan, more likely via a financial war that crashes markets and destabilise economies, cause internal conflict to weaken a nation (sorry guys - I’m a Brit looking at you, and your falling into this trap). Too much debt - internal political polarisation and internal hatred = recipe for cicil strive).

What I agree with the author of this thread, thank god we are old. Make the most of the next 10 years, be wary about the following decade, and remember this prediction in the 3rd - if we are still around and haven’t nuked, starved or fallen into anarchy as Darwins theory of survival of the fittest applies.

Sorry no good news from me, other than make the most of every day. Taking a lead from Peter Sellers Being There - Summer is over, we are heading into mid autumn, winter is coming - and from it will come spring, summer and a repeat…..

:1rotfl::1rotfl:

Decent analysis and true to the extent that there were early retirements and families that due to the cost of daycare realized that they could survive on one income. However, whether you believe that 1 million deaths were due to as opposed to with COVID, the overwhelming majority of those people were not in and would never be in the workforce.

The first problem is a printing machine/computer generated fiat money. The 2nd problem is the world economic forum, the 3rd and most important problem is we allow these criminals to rule the world. The economic reset is coming. Hold on tight.

The padded coffin will hold me tight.

"The good news is that we may have another 25-30 years before the world economy collapses."

Bill Holter says we have maybe 90 days before it all crashes down.

"What are the solutions?"

You may not like the solution.

Amazon.com

A couple of things I noticed:
Nobody has read the book “The creature from Jekyll Island” which goes over all of this and explains how the monetary system of the world was created, how it works, and how most loans to countries go into default but the same country that defaults gets a brand new loan; and the other thing:
Who listens to cnn?

This is a really good book that explains how the United States financial system was created, how it’s been operating for decades and how we influence the world monetary system.
We don’t have to look globally for debt issues. Individual debt in this country has reached over $1T and is not letting up. Look how many people in the states default on their bank card debt but can turnaround and get a home loan or another credit card.

Jus make it legal. :what:

Finally, and this is really not political but a fact, there are some jobs that Americans either can't or won't do. 80% of the workers on farms are foreign born. We need people to harvest our crops, vegetables, fruits and nuts. According to farmers in many parts of the country, Americans won't do this backbreaking work regardless of pay. There are other occupations as well with very few American-born workers.[/QUOTE]


I was thinking yesterday (appropriate for the day, I guess) about "The Greatest Generation"; the Americans who survived the Great Depression, fought with our allies in WW 2, and later helped America become the greatest economic powerhouse that this planet has yet seen. I remember Mom talking about how people pulled together during the depression, in particular a time when my grandmother was too ill to do what needed to be done, and a neighbor (Irene) doing their laundry. Doesn't sound like much except that Irene lived over 1.5 miles away and walked to my Mom's house, carried the laundry back to her house to do with hers, washed, dried and folded it, and returned the laundry in the same way. Using gas for the trip was unthinkable and detergent cost money. That was just one example. She quoted many others, and that was just in our little community.

Dad also talked about taking odd jobs whenever he could find them and helping his family farming when he wasn't working. Far northern MN is incredibly poor farming land and no family could make it up there just on farming so he took work for pay whenever he could find it: tree planting with the CCC, sawmilling, a whole lot of other things, all hard work. and VERY little pay.

Today, we see statements like the one quoted above. The sad part is that it is all too true. Americans won't. But would they, if they had no other choice?

Maybe what this country needs is another Great Depression, where folks either pull together or die. "Backbreaking" work was not only the order of the day, but people lined up for it and took it gladly when offered. You don't become great if you live from handout to handout, after all.

Not everyone who died was over 65. But that is really not the debate I want to have. What the pandemic did was change the perspective of a lot of people. Including me. I did not plan on leaving the workforce before age 65, because I didn't want to deal with healthcare before Medicare, but I ended up retiring early and have not regretted it. I think the pandemic showed us that life can turn on a dime and no one is guaranteed another day. We lost of lot of people in a short period of time. The lock downs and isolation and it was all sad and challenging on many different levels. And so people started to look at things differently. A lot of that had to do with how they work or whether they work. And what they do for work. There are probably several other reasons for why we find ourselves here that I am not mentioning here. In my town in CT, my whole life, when it was announced the police would be hiring, there were hundreds of applicants. Now, they get in the single digits in applicants. They just can't seem to hire enough nurses in this country. The traveling nurses make an incredible salary and still there is a shortage. There is no doubt we need more doctors, too. There are many professions with shortages, not just fast food workers. I think many of these situations are only going to get worse as the number of Baby Boomers turning 65 each day is now at an all-time high. I know there is a lot of talk across several forums about the slowdown in the real estate market in The Villages, but I think that there are still over 100 new and pre-owned homes sold every week.

Yeah, I read that article. What is coming is bigger and badder than most will acknowledge or entertain. We are already in a fiscal death spiral. $1Trillion will be spent next year just to pay the interest on the national debt. And, because we refuse to spend less than what we take in, the debt will continue to grow. People need to understand the word "unsustainable". This is unsustainable. That means it can not continue. So, therefore, inflation is unstoppable and hyper-inflation is just around the corner as our corrupt government tries to hide the inevitable.

Eventually (3-4 years at most), the USD will be close to worthless. That's right. Think hard and contemplate a world where your money doesn't work. How will you obtain what you need? Can you imagine the chaos, the gangs, the violence that will erupt when money doesn't work. Got some gold? Perhaps that will help a little but you can't eat gold. What will you do? Will you or your family even survive? It's going to get real ugly. Are you PREPared?

Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe are coming to a country near you thanks to deficit spending, unopposed immigration, political violence, etc. This can not be fixed. Mathematically, we are past the point of no return. Doesn't matter who you vote for. Doesn't matter what program might be cut to try to stem the bleeding. Our corrupt leaders and their supporters (WEF, Bill Gates, Soros, corrupt media, the UN, etc) will destroy this country.

This history book is also a prediction pertaining to the USA.

When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany

I was thinking yesterday (appropriate for the day, I guess) about "The Greatest Generation"; the Americans who survived the Great Depression, fought with our allies in WW 2, and later helped America become the greatest economic powerhouse that this planet has yet seen. I remember Mom talking about how people pulled together during the depression, in particular a time when my grandmother was too ill to do what needed to be done, and a neighbor (Irene) doing their laundry. Doesn't sound like much except that Irene lived over 1.5 miles away and walked to my Mom's house, carried the laundry back to her house to do with hers, washed, dried and folded it, and returned the laundry in the same way. Using gas for the trip was unthinkable and detergent cost money. That was just one example. She quoted many others, and that was just in our little community.

Dad also talked about taking odd jobs whenever he could find them and helping his family farming when he wasn't working. Far northern MN is incredibly poor farming land and no family could make it up there just on farming so he took work for pay whenever he could find it: tree planting with the CCC, sawmilling, a whole lot of other things, all hard work. and VERY little pay.

Today, we see statements like the one quoted above. The sad part is that it is all too true. Americans won't. But would they, if they had no other choice?

Maybe what this country needs is another Great Depression, where folks either pull together or die. "Backbreaking" work was not only the order of the day, but people lined up for it and took it gladly when offered. You don't become great if you live from handout to handout, after all.[/QUOTE]I don't know the answer to this question. Would they if they had no other choice? For some, it's not a matter of desire, they are just not in physical condition to do this kind of work.

When I was in college, I worked part-time on a janitorial crew in the winter and outside maintenance in the summer. I swept floors, learned to use a buffing machine, used a mop and bucket quite often, even stripped and sealed floors. Sometimes I had to clean bathrooms. I didn't enjoy that, but bathrooms had to be cleaned and I was a janitor. In the summer, I picked up garbage and cut grass all day long. Meanwhile, I was also going to college and making sure I kept my grades up.

This was not unusual for the 70-80's. I think it is unusual now. I graduated from college with no student loan debt and a bachelor's degree and my days working these kinds of jobs were over. Still, I think they provided me valuable experience and built my work ethic and I also know what it's like to show up every day for an unskilled labor job, punch a clock, and work as part of a crew. I never took a day off and I showed up every day on time. It was good for me.

Things have changed since then. I am not going to be like one of those people who say "back in my day" blah blah blah. The whole world has changed. We didn't walk around with cell phones or have social media in those days. I am not going to blame anyone, I just think things have changed.

I was thinking yesterday (appropriate for the day, I guess) about "The Greatest Generation"; the Americans who survived the Great Depression, fought with our allies in WW 2, and later helped America become the greatest economic powerhouse that this planet has yet seen. I remember Mom talking about how people pulled together during the depression, in particular a time when my grandmother was too ill to do what needed to be done, and a neighbor (Irene) doing their laundry. Doesn't sound like much except that Irene lived over 1.5 miles away and walked to my Mom's house, carried the laundry back to her house to do with hers, washed, dried and folded it, and returned the laundry in the same way. Using gas for the trip was unthinkable and detergent cost money. That was just one example. She quoted many others, and that was just in our little community.

Dad also talked about taking odd jobs whenever he could find them and helping his family farming when he wasn't working. Far northern MN is incredibly poor farming land and no family could make it up there just on farming so he took work for pay whenever he could find it: tree planting with the CCC, sawmilling, a whole lot of other things, all hard work. and VERY little pay.

Today, we see statements like the one quoted above. The sad part is that it is all too true. Americans won't. But would they, if they had no other choice?

Maybe what this country needs is another Great Depression, where folks either pull together or die. "Backbreaking" work was not only the order of the day, but people lined up for it and took it gladly when offered. You don't become great if you live from handout to handout, after all.[/QUOTE]

When I was in college, I worked part-time on a janitorial crew in the winter and outside maintenance in the summer. I swept floors, learned to use a buffing machine, used a mop and bucket quite often, even stripped and sealed floors. Sometimes I had to clean bathrooms. I didn't enjoy that, but bathrooms had to be cleaned and I was a janitor. In the summer, I picked up garbage and cut grass all day long. Meanwhile, I was also going to college and making sure I kept my grades up.

This was not unusual for the 70-80's. I think it is unusual now. I graduated from college with no student loan debt and a bachelor's degree and my days working these kinds of jobs were over. Still, I think they provided me valuable experience and built my work ethic and I also know what it's like to show up every day for an unskilled labor job, punch a clock, and work as part of a crew. I never took a day off and I showed up every day on time. It was good for me.

Things have changed since then. I am not going to be like one of those people who say "back in my day" blah blah blah. The whole world has changed. We didn't walk around with cell phones or have social media in those days. I am not going to blame anyone, I just think things have changed.

Sure can do but nobody will buy any new debt ever and our credit rating will be in the toilet and interest rates will climb higher for is being a deadbeat borrower.

( with apologies ) Were you politician in a former life, the consequences are the same but if you can sell to the public , and avoid responsibility , good to go

Easy solution - tax the billionaires and large corporations, like Amazon, who don't pay any taxes or at least not their fair share. Again, an easy solution!

I'm curious...What would be Amazon's "fair share"?

Ever take a class in Economics? Typically corporations pass on taxes to their customers in the form of higher taxes.

BTW what is a fair share? 40%, 50%? Corporations and small businesses are the ones who provide jobs to grow the economy. They spend much more efficiently than the govt.

Good Response
 

Nice breakout.........the debt is obviously not a problem as no one ever tries to correct it. So, its a non issue............

I hear you, so there’s nothing we can do about it. So in the last 3 1/2 yrs. who do you think is the blame for most of it?

Especially Amazon. If they depended on the USPS to deliver their products, they would probably go out of business. They have developed their own delivery system that is head over heels better than the Government system.

Perfect...............we can't borrow, we must live within our means. :BigApplause:

Fairly tax *ultra* rich? Have I been misled that top 1% or so of business and individuals get deep exemptions? I looked at tax tables from 1900 forward and it appears that this group has steady decline in taxes paid? Idk?

“Countries keep printing money to get over the short term problem but debt has to be repaid or deflated”. Quoted for PhD in finance.

What’s your degree in ? Several branches of government covert activities just print money under table not accountable to anyone.

This what got use into problems, thinking taxing is solution when spend crazy taxing governments are the problem.

Raising taxes on the rich will not solve the problem. But, increasing the number of people who pay taxes could solve the problem. A tax system where half of the people pay no income tax is absurd. Everyone should have skin in the game.

Somebody buying something when only little less than half pay no taxes.

I was reading recently that tge Chinese government owes us quite a bit of money from the pre communist era that is still due

I sure we written if off in 40s.

No one is to blame
 

3 1/2 years has nothing to do with it...........it went out of whack after a balanced budget existed...........since then its all their faults, in that way no one is to blame........just rhetoric...........its a non issue until action is taken not rhetoric

I was going to post the same thing. Dire warnings in the 80's yet we're still here and things are better than ever. Maybe it really doesn't matter. But it *has* to, doesn't it?

Joe

Seems like they could increase taxes 5% across the board, cut spending 5% across the board, increase/decrease both 1% every year until things are under control. But I'm sure there are plenty of plans that would work that nobody can agree upon ;)

Joe

I’m not an economist, but I stay at a Holiday once!
 

Real simple, government has to stop wasteful spending and they won’t. Why are we spending? I think $60 billion on student loan bail out? Why are we spending billions on illegals coming into the country and we’re not even taking care of our military?? The government spent $6 billion on EV charging stations and only have six installed so far. Every bill passed by congress should only have one item on it. 20 or 30 people tack on stuff for their district like $5 million for a library or $10 million for a zebra museum or some stupid crap.
The one thing our founding fathers screwed up was not putting term limits on Congress.
I’m afraid it’s too late now🤬

I doubt term limits would do anything.

To countries we owe money to, we should say, "For the foreseeable future, we can pay only principal, not interest, until the debt is paid. This may change; we'll let you know."

To government leaders, we should say, "Reduce the size of government by at least 25% within five years, or we, the taxpayers, will stop paying taxes." With enough citizens withholding taxes, there's no way the IRS could pursue them all.

To the American people, our leaders should say, "We must undertake an austerity program. We can no longer pay for other countries' security; they must pay us."

The above would be just a start, but I believe we can greatly reduce the national debt.