Why Government Debt Is Bad: Refuting the Argument That “We Pay It to Ourselves”
It’s time for another installment of Things That Nobody Talks About Anymore. This is the Government Debt Edition, where I pour my heart out discussing a topic that five people still care about. Today I want to refute the argument that you may have heard from time to time from New Keynesians like Paul Krugman: government debt is not really a problem because We Pay It to Ourselves. Krugman has ridden this hobby horse many a time, making arguments like this:
I want to expand a bit on something Dean Baker said yesterday:
As a country we cannot impose huge debt burdens on our children. It is impossible, at least if we are referring to government debt. The reason is simple: at one point we will all be dead. That means that the ownership of our debt will be passed on to our children. If we have some huge thousand trillion dollar debt that is owed to our children, then how have we imposed a burden on them? There is a distributional issue — Bill Gates’ children may own all the debt — but that is within generations, not between generations. As a group, our children’s well-being will be determined by the productivity of the economy (which Brooks complained about earlier), the state of the physical and social infrastructure and the environment.
. . . .
People think of debt’s role in the economy as if it were the same as what debt means for an individual: there’s a lot of money you have to pay to someone else. But that’s all wrong; the debt we create is basically money we owe to ourselves, and the burden it imposes does not involve a real transfer of resources.
That’s not to say that high debt can’t cause problems — it certainly can. But these are problems of distribution and incentives, not the burden of debt as is commonly understood. And as Dean says, talking about leaving a burden to our children is especially nonsensical; what we are leaving behind is promises that some of our children will pay money to other children, which is a very different kettle of fish.
This argument might sound plausible on its face — if you have never heard the counterarguments.
I recently finished Bob Murphy’s course on the History of Economic Thought at Liberty Classroom, and he armed listeners with four arguments to refute the “We Pay It To Ourselves” trope. I’ll do my best to summarize them here. The fourth argument is the one that takes on Krugman’s points most directly.
First, it’s not really true that we pay the debt entirely to ourselves. Foreign governments like China own over $6 trillion of the $20 trillion debt. It’s not a majority of it, but it’s a sizable chunk.
Second, government debt funds government spending, which consumes resources that would otherwise be available to the private sector. This is bad because government spending is less efficient than the private sector. It’s easy to see why. The private sector runs on voluntary transactions. If A gives a dollar to B for a widget, it’s because A thinks he’s better off with the widget than the dollar. B thinks he’s better off with the dollar than the widget. The very fact that the voluntary transaction occurred means that, at the time of the transaction, both parties believed they were coming out ahead.
The same cannot be said for government transactions, which are funded by taxes — which are collected, not voluntarily, but by the threat that men will come to your front door with guns to throw you into a cage if you don’t pay them. The fact that a government transaction happened is not, by itself, proof that society is better off.
By crowding out the private sector, and consuming resources that would otherwise be used by the private sector, the government insures that the private sector must compete more for remaining resources. This drives up prices and hurts everyone. We may need government for certain public goods like the common defense, but paying for it comes at a real cost.
Third, ultimately debt must be paid by taxation, and taxation itself distorts the system and makes us poorer. If people want to discourage the use of gasoline, they pass a gas tax. Don’t like sugary sodas? We pass a soda tax. Same with cigarettes, alcohol, etc. Well, passing a tax on income derived from work means less work is done. Taxing investment gains means less investment. These activities still happen, just like people still smoke and drink and use gasoline, but there is less of it on the margins. Less investment and work hurts the economy.
But it’s Murphy’s fourth point that I find most interesting, and that punches Krugman’s arguments directly in the face. Murphy makes use of a chart that I believe is proprietary and that I should not reproduce here. If you want to see it, try out Liberty Classroom! But I’m taking it as a challenge to describe it in words.
Essentially, to make things simple, Murphy pretends for the sake of argument that the first three points I just made are all wrong. Foreign countries own no debt; the private sector is not deprived of resources; taxes create no distortionary effects on incentives.
Murphy asks you to imagine a very simple society that always has two people, one young and one old. In Murphy’s simplified society, the currency is apples. Everyone grows 100 apples per generation, and absent government intervention they would consume them. But then government intervenes and has young people consume fewer apples when they are young, in exchange for a promise to get even more apples when they are old.
In generation 1, you have Al (old) and Bob (young). (The names begin with letters from the alphabet in sequence.) The government borrows 3 apples from young Bob to give to Old Al. It promises to pay young Bob 6 apples when he is old.
In generation 2, Al is dead. Bob is now old and Christy is young. The government borrows 6 apples from young Christy to repay Bob, who is now old. Note that, at the same interest rate, the government must borrow more apples from young Christy than it borrowed from Bob when he was young — because the government has to pay back old Bob with interest. Christy gives up 6 apples when young, but will get 12 when she is old.
Then, in generation 3, Bob is dead, and we have young Dave and old Christy. The government borrows 12 apples from young Dave to repay (now old) Christy. It must borrow more apples from young Dave from than it borrowed from young Christy. As time goes on, the number of apples demanded and paid grows each generation.
And then it all blows up. Finally, the amount of interest becomes so large that it is impossible to pay the current old generation by simply borrowing apples from the young generation.
That’s when the taxation starts.
If you keep running the scenario, you’ll see that young Frank lends the government 48 apples to repay old Eddy. But when Frank gets old, you can’t borrow enough from young George to repay Frank. So the government pays old Frank the 96 apples he is owed by a) borrowing 10 from young George and also b) taxing old Frank 86 apples. The government taxes old Frank to pay old Frank.
It’s more convincing to see it visually, but the point is that, over time, future generations are indeed worse off because they end up being taxed to pay the bondholders. We are literally “paying it to ourselves” — by being taxed, so the government can repay our investment. This makes future generations poorer, by reducing the value of their investments. They will still make the investments — Frank still comes out ahead 10 apples — but their investments will pay less because they are being taxed to pay for the spendthrift ways of past generations.
So, even in a society where “we pay it to ourselves,” we tax ourselves to pay it. Ultimately, the earlier generations are still robbing from later generations.
Government debt is intergenerational theft. It’s wrong. Don’t let the Paul Krugmans of the world tell you otherwise.
[Note from JVW – I fixed an earlier typo for clarity: “$6 trillion” instead of “$6 billion.”]
[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]
Relax, Donald Trump promised to pay off the debt completely in eight years.
Only seven years to go!
Dave (103afd) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:17 amNot so sure about the 4th point.
The population grows, and the economy also grows substantially over a generation. If Christy’s generation grows 200 apples per person, because of improvements in productivity, then the 6 apples are no more of a (relative) burden to her than the 3 apples were for Bob. Or if Christy’s generation has twice as many people, each person pays the same as Bob.
More generally, the world described in point 4 just isn’t much like the real world.
Dave (103afd) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:28 amYes. If you suppose the generational interest multiplier (I) is smaller, and assign a number to the generational size increase (G) and economic activity increase (E), then so long as
G*E >= I
there is no problem at all. Even if that isn’t true for some generations, it may be made up in the next. For example, going from the huge Boomer generation to a much smaller GenX generation strained a lot of things, more or less as Murphy said, but the Millennials are as large a cohort as the Boomers and they do not seem to be choosing celibacy.
Further, economic growth is greatly affected by government policy. One can have rapid growth and the unfettered imagination of free enterprise, or one can have the carefully managed gradual growth of the central planners. Krugman makes a wonderful case for the unfettered growth/free enterprise model; although he would probably deny it.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:43 amThe population grows, and the economy also grows substantially over a generation.
You are assuming a growing population. You shouldn’t assume that anymore. Birth rates are down in most first world countries – many below the replacement level.
MacGruber (15cfac) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:46 amRelax, Donald Trump promised to pay off the debt completely in eight years.
Dave is going to be so shocked, too, when he doesn’t. He’ll probably go after Trump in the same way he went after Obama for not stopping global warming.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:47 amSomehow the US population keeps growing.
AZ Bob (f60c80) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:49 amBirth rates are down in most first world countries – many below the replacement level.
Not in the US. But then we are (STILL!) not a social democracy more concerned that someone falls even if it means that no one can rise.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:51 amYes but what is the composition of the population, unskilled versus skilled, educated vs. Not
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:52 amIt seems to me that there is some level of government debt and borrowing which is harmless, and probably beneficial.
IANAE, but I think deficits of 3% of GDP per annum are generally considered a sort of cross-over point between good and bad, or at least between “not a crisis” and “start panicking”.
In 2007, the deficit was only 1.1% of GDP, but then the housing bubble and democrats blew everything up:
2008: 3.1%
2009: 9.8%
2010: 8.7%
2011: 8.5%
2012: 6.8%
2013: 4.1%
2014: 2.8%
2015: 2.4%
2016: 3.2%
2017: 3.1% (est)
We are back to (near) the 3% point, but huge amounts of debt rung up while the Democrats controlled congress remain.
There will be no surpluses to pay it off without entitlement reform or massive tax increases. Non-defense discretionary spending now is a smaller percentage of GDP than in 2001, the last year of surplus. Entitlements eat up a whopping 4.2% of GDP more now than they did then (defense spending is also 0.3% of GDP higher).
Until somebody has the guts to take on entitlements, all we can realistically do is grow the economy and pray interest rates stay low.
Dave (103afd) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:53 amNot in the US. But then we are (STILL!) not a social democracy more concerned that someone falls even if it means that no one can rise.
Maybe not yet, but we are getting close:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/03/health/united-states-fertility-rate.html
MacGruber (15cfac) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:54 amWhen y’all discuss population increase it makes folks nervous.
Time to full the Herd
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:54 amI don’t understand the “debt we owe to ourselves” thing. Does that mean that if everybody signed a forgiveness agreement, we would then be debt free? Then let’s do it, for crying out loud!
Or is “debt we owe to ourselves” a load of horsesh!t and it’s a debt we owe to China and everybody else who invests in government paper? Just so the hogs at the government troughs can eat as much as they want without raising taxes so high that they’ll be kicked out of office?
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:57 amWas waiting for the obligatory “all Trump’s fault” kicker in the post. But, looks like that was taken care of in the very first comment.
random viking (6a54c2) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:57 am“That’s when the taxation starts.”
A country has four tools to retire its debt: raise taxes, cut spending, declare bankruptcy, or debase the currency through inflation.
Inflation is the most palatable to a politician. If you double the rate of inflation over 10 years, you can retire 50% of the debt without raising taxes or cutting spending. Of course, we’re still paying for it, it’s just not as noticeable as increasing taxes.
Paul Ryan has recently said he’s tackling entitlement reform next. We’ll see.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:58 am12… It’s the second thing, mk.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:03 amwe need to do more with less
but it can be fun we can make a game of it
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:05 amI mocked Obama at the time, but he never promised to stop global warming.
He said (maybe) the rise of the oceans would slow.
Slowing the rise of the oceans is trivially easy. Anything you do which reduces fossil fuel consumption by any amount will slow the rise of the oceans.
Turning your home thermostat down by 1 degree for 5 minutes will slow the rise of the oceans (by an immeasurably small amount, but still…).
Please stop forcing me to defend Obama. I assure you I find it distasteful, but when you attack me with a false statement implicating him, I have no choice…
Dave (103afd) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:07 amOver the last few years, the near zero interest rate for the government (Germany even went a bit negative for a bit), has made debt “near free” of costs (at least until the stop “printing” so much money).
Wait until interest rates rise to normal (not even late 19070’s numbers) and see a bunch of people scramble.
We (US/World) should be working for (at least) zero population growth. But the governments cannot because they have a giant pyramid scheme and need “more people” to pay off old promises. For the US, without immigration, we would be (roughly) at replacement levels.
BfC (5517e8) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:09 amTurning your home thermostat down by 1 degree for 5 minutes will slow the rise of the oceans (by an immeasurably small amount, but still…).
this is so gay
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:14 ami have to take a beat and get some coffee
i can’t even
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:15 amLetting Americans keep more of their own money and the Dems and Never-Trumpers hair is aflame.
Spending is the key – cut the spending.
Among the worst uses of taxpayer money is to reward people for sneaking in.
The Land Of Opportunity is not at the welfare office.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:15 amYou’re welcome!
Pretty much. I had never heard the “we owe it to ourselves” argument before reading this post…
Dave (103afd) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:16 amwhen al gore and tom friedman, turn their thermostat down, the skydragon is just a tool of neofeudalism, peasants must sacrifice, the gold’s like the red rising, enjoy the fruits,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:17 am“Turning your home thermostat down by 1 degree for 5 minutes will slow the rise of the oceans (by an immeasurably small amount, but still…).”
Getting Al Gore to reduce his carbon footprint by selling a few mansions, working from one location etc. will really help. When the foremost advocate for cutting back still flies around the globe and has a fleet of SUVs sitting with their engines running while he gives his doomsday speeches, you have to wonder how much he believes his own words.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:20 amI thought coffee came before “beat”, happyfeet.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:20 amftfy
Saying “cut spending” without specifying what to cut is dumb.
Dave (103afd) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:22 ami’m probably doing it wrong
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:22 am“Birth rates are down in most first world countries – many below the replacement level.”
That’s working out well……
“STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden will do whatever it takes, including sending in the army, to end a wave of gang violence that has seen a string of deadly shootings, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in Wednesday……
…..Law and order is likely to be a major issue in a parliamentary election scheduled for September with the populist, opposition Sweden Democrats linking public concern about the rising crime rate to a large increase in the numbers of immigrants……
……..“This is the new Sweden; the new, exciting dynamic, multicultural paradise that so many here in this assembly … have fought to create for so many years,” he said sarcastically.”
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:24 amnk 12 –
I don’t understand the “debt we owe to ourselves” thing. Does that mean that if everybody signed a forgiveness agreement, we would then be debt free? Then let’s do it, for crying out loud!
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:29 amthe number is faulty in part because the way the gdp has been calculated, but it is a gargantuan task,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:30 amsince the largest single component will likely be the service on the debt, if not now, but the congress was unwilling to consider even some trimming of discretionary expenses, like in mulvaney’s budget,
You’re assuming population growth is only due to birth rate.
Population growth is (births – deaths) + (immigration – emigration). If more people are coming into the country (via birth or immigration) than leaving it (via death or emigration), then population will grow.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:53 amI had to Google “take a beat”. What, is it an internetism or maybe Twitterism to shave two characters from “take a breath”?
Now for a beat I tarry
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:54 amNor yet disperse apart
Take my card quick and tell me
Is that a latte in the cup?
John Kerry To Abbas Confidante: “Stay Strong And Don’t Give In To Trump”
“During the conversation, according to the report, Kerry asked Agha to convey a message to Abbas and ask him to “hold on and be strong.” Tell him, he told Agha, “that he should stay strong in his spirit and play for time, that he will not break and will not yield to President Trump’s demands.” According to Kerry, Trump will not remain in office for a long time. It was reported that within a year there was a good chance that Trump would not be in the White House.
“Maybe it is time for the Palestinians to define their peace principles and present a positive plan,” Kerry suggested. He promised to use all his contacts and all his abilities to get support for such a plan. He asked Abbas, through Agha, not to attack the US or the Trump administration, but to concentrate on personal attacks on Trump himself…..
https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2018/01/john-kerry-abbas-confidante-stay-strong-dont-give-trump/
So, still a traitor.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:10 amForeign governments like China own over $6 billion of the $20 trillion debt.
typo should be $6.3 trillion
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:18 amSo how can it cause “real” problems if it doesn’t involve a “real” transfer of resources, O Nobel Prize Winner?
Sheesh…
J.P. (9e0433) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:29 amImagine if China dumps that 6.3 Billion in.paper..
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:36 amLook at Japan if you want to know why government debt is bad, even if the debt overwhelmingly is held by citizens and firms in the debtor nation itself. Japan is screwed.
Mitch (341ca0) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:54 amI always find it amusing that Krugman can argue that personal debt is bad, but government debt is just okey dokey. And yet…all the bad things that happen to adults with a lot of debt also happen to governments.
We can probably “get away” with debt that is falling as a % of the GDP, or that is growing at less than the rate of inflation, but it is never a good thing.
But politicians love debt – “Spend tomorrows taxes…Today!
George Orwell's Ghost (a815b9) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:13 pm38.
But is it a very, very bad thing? Or just better not to have because it reduces the margin for error.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:17 pm12. nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:57 am
I don’t quite understand ir either, but I think it means that certain kinds of things that might happen if government debt gets too high, like what happened to greece, can’t happen.
It’s more a 19th century thing, though.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:21 pm[Note from JVW – I fixed an earlier typo for clarity: “$6 trillion” instead of “$6 billion.”]
JVW (42615e) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:24 pmThat’s true. But on the otehr hand, no one country or entity has control. Also they would be hurt more if they squeezed than we would. They all use the U.S. Dollar and there is nothing better on earth. There coule be a problem in 100, or more likely closer to 200 years.
No it doesn’t. It;’s all free money,and increases resources.
Well, it may very well be not a very efficient use of money. But that is a point wich applies to government spending regardless of whether the money is raised by borrowing taxing or with a click on a computer screen.
Not true for the federal government of the United States. The money will not be, and cannot be, paid back, and probably ultimately will be inflated away, hopefully very slowly.
Or it doesn’t matter
Correct.
They do, which is why it is foolish to reduce the debt.
When the population stops growing.
You got to watch interest rates.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:32 pmA country has four tools to retire its debt: raise taxes, cut spending, declare bankruptcy, or debase the currency through inflation.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:58 am
Respectfully I would add conquest and selling off of natural resources. Conspiracy minded folks have talked about the international repo men of nation states.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:51 pmI had to Google “take a beat”. What, is it an internetism or maybe Twitterism to shave two characters from “take a breath”?
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:54 am
It’s a term from Hollywood. Say you and your scene partner are doing a runthrough. You want to go over all the beats. It evolved from there into, “Let’s take a beat.”
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:01 pmJVW,
While you are fixing typos, can you fix reducting to reducing in the third to last paragraph?
DRJ (15874d) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:03 pmWell you hire Ned Kelly to steal all that Chinese Debt and burn it. It’s a Hollywood trope from Wisdom to Hell or High Water to…Ned Kelly.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:06 pmHas anyone calculated what happens when a grandma lives with her kids or a 28 year old adult stays at [Lives with, white people] mom or grandma’s and they share apples? I’m thinking Tyler Perry Presents: Madea Saves the Orchard.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:10 pm12.I don’t understand the “debt we owe to ourselves” thing. Does that mean that if everybody signed a forgiveness agreement, we would then be debt free?
I don’t quite understand ir either, but I think it means that certain kinds of things that might happen if government debt gets too high, like what happened to greece, can’t happen.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/24/2018 @ 12:21 pm
People probably want to compare it to borrowing from your own 401k.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:13 pmPeople probably want to compare it to borrowing from your own 401k.
Or Reagan borrowing future SS dollars and calling it a promissory note and we know how y’all honor promises.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:20 pmBtw: That’s the linchpin for payroll taxes going from 4% of wages to 12%.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:23 pmWhen they talk about Starving the Beast they’re talking about you and mr.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:25 pmYou and me..
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:26 pm42 –
Not true for the federal government of the United States. The money will not be, and cannot be, paid back, and probably ultimately will be inflated away, hopefully very slowly.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:29 pmCount me as one of the five who cares about debt and spending and appreciate these think pieces. As long as the bond market doesn’t crash, interest rates don’t explode and sovereign wealth funds don’t dump their holdings there’s likely little interest in getting politicians to tackle the growth of government spending that’s causing the debt problem. It is long past time to prune the weeds in the federal budget. A wide array of economic studies conclude government spending shouldn’t average more than 15-25% of GDP rather than twice that as it is today.
CATO’s Daniel Mitchell put together a brief video explaining the Rahn Curve which is a spending version of the Laffer Curve. “The Rahn Curve shows that modest amounts of government spending – for core “public goods” such as rule of law and protection of property rights – is associated with better economic performance. But when government rises above that level (as it has in all developed nations), then more government is associated with slower growth.”
While any reduction in spending growth is attacked as slashing spending the irony is simple spending restraint solves the deficit and debt problem and can be easily expressed as “The Private Sector Should Grow Faster than the Government.”
Congress needs to get back to regular order and prune the weeds and waste while we can still control our own economic destiny.
crazy (d99a88) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:30 pmCount me in on pruning the waste if you include the Pentagon. crickets
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:38 pmSome places (e.g. North Korea) rent slaves to, say, the Saudis.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:39 pmThe National Debt: She’s a Nasty Woman.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:40 pmDoes anyone in the WH know what a Petrodollar is?
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/white-house-trump-attack-u-s-dollar-308351
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:42 pmSlowing the rise of the oceans is trivially easy. Anything you do which reduces fossil fuel consumption by any amount will slow the rise of the oceans.
Only if you believe that coupling is a significant part of it. It does coincide with CO2 increases (and CO2 increases should be viewed with concern anyway), but it also coincides with a long solar active period. I really wish there was more science and less politics in the discussion because politics debases everything it touches. Currency, facts, people, etc.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:42 pmSome places (e.g. North Korea) rent slaves to, say, the Saudis.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:39 pm
Solves two problems at least, like how to feed them.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:44 pm48 – except the comparison doesn’t work — borrowing from one’s 401k will not instigate a currency crisis. If the borrower and creditor are the same entity, you’re in crazy town:
‘We are getting closer to the endgame for Japan. What happens if yields rise further? What happens if the yen depreciates significantly? How much could it depreciate? Could Japan have a currency crisis? What happens if the BOJ ends up owning the entire bond market? These are the questions that investors are asking, and nobody really knows the answers. We are in uncharted territory.
I believe that a currency crisis isn’t just possible–it’s inevitable. And it probably happens at about the time that the BOJ owns all or nearly all of the JGB market, and has to resort to canceling the debt. This sounds like a neat magic trick to make the debt go away, but the laws of economics are not to be conned. Anything is possible–a currency crash, a bond market crash–anything. This is the very definition of debt monetization that resulted in hyperinflation in places like Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe. Is Japan different? We shall see.
We will find out soon, as Japan has taken a major step in that direction.”
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:46 pm—— Jared Dillian, Forbes
There are few problems the US can’t overcome by reducing population, say by about 50 to 60%. End in-migration, encourage out-migration, discourage out-of-wedlock births, deport all illegal aliens, and ostracize fellons.
Give it 15 years and we won’t need jails.
ropelight (d246bc) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:48 pmBRICS and Iranian Bourse challenged Petrodollar. This cannot be allowed.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:50 pmTurning your home thermostat down by 1 degree for 5 minutes will slow the rise of the oceans (by an immeasurably small amount, but still…).
Not sure this is ever remotely true. My heat is from natural gas. Methane, mostly. Methane in the atmosphere is FAR worse than the same amount of CO2. So, I burn it and release some CO2, ensuring that that deadly methane never reaches the sky.
Further, since CH4 is the highest energy (per unit carbon) of all the hydrocarbons, it creates the least amount of CO2 for the unit heat.
Now, where does this natural gas come from? It is a WASTE PRODUCT of oil drilling. In Saudi Arabia they burn (“flare”) it off at the wellhead.
So, really my burning natural gas has NO EFFECT at all on global warming, prevents methane from escaping into into the atmosphere unburned, and warms my tootsies instead of being flared off.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:58 pm*
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:02 pmeverevenSolves two problems at least, like how to feed them.
A big step up for the slaves, too.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:03 pmPeople probably want to compare it to borrowing from your own 401k.
Been there, done that. Don’t do it.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:04 pmhttps://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-21/petrodollar-under-attack-heres-what-you-need-know
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:07 pmIf Trump kills the Petrodollar it’ll make him more popular than evah!
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-22/donald-trump-saudi-arabia-and-petrodollar
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:12 pmIt’ll make the last financial collapse seem like a bowl of kernels popcorn.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:13 pmThere are few problems the US can’t overcome by reducing population, say by about 50 to 60%. End in-migration, encourage out-migration, discourage out-of-wedlock births, deport all illegal aliens, and ostracize fellons.
Give it 15 years and we won’t need jails.
ropelight (d246bc) — 1/24/2018 @ 1:48 pm
The new Death Race movies would be a good start and all that carbon would raise the oceans from microdoses of D_V_’s tears.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:48 pmA big step up for the slaves, too.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:03 pm
All the sand you could ever eat.
We used to dream of eatin’ sand.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:49 pmWhat was the name of that gal who wanted to seize 401k’s and let the government administer them?
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:54 pmi think it was some harvardtrash chick named Teresa [italian name]
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:55 pmTeresa Ghilarducci: The 401(k) Retirement System Has Failed
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:55 pmexcuse me berkeleytrash
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 2:56 pmIf we had some sugar daddy entity which did not demand interest payments he argument can at least be had as to debt being penalty-free to future generations.
The interest on the debt consumes 6.5 percent ($266 billion) of the U.S. federal budget. That makes it the fourth largest budget item. The four largest are Social Security benefits ($948 billion), military spending ($773.5 billion), Medicare ($592 billion), and Medicaid ($385 billion).
That, my friends, is a real cost. It is only growing.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:02 pmNeither the Democrats nor Trump care about the debt:
DRJ (15874d) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:07 pmNormally Drj is objective but democrats spoil the broth
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/10/04/democrats-are-the-new-deficit-hawks-in-the-age-of-trump.html
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:21 pmI hope they are hawks.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:23 pmPresident Trump knows more about infrastructure than any president in the history of America.
I’m eager to hear his proposals.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:25 pmNow that’s funny, hf.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:27 pmyou’ll see how good he does and you’ll know the shame of your impertinence
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:33 pm@79
I think this is overselling it. Democrats know that as soon as the Republicans no longer control the White House, they’ll suddenly remember how they don’t actually like the deficit. So I see this as mitigation.
Davethulhu (fab944) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:36 pmI agree I am impertinent but that doesn’t make me wrong.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:36 pmThe msm has had a bad few months and it doesn’t seem to be improving….
http://media.breitbart.com/media/2018/01/DULO9tOWsAI1-mu-1.jpg
harkin (8d01aa) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:37 pm84
I know. I’m just enjoying the fact that democrats seem more like conservatives and as you understand, it’s the public perception that counts and it makes good copy for hypocrites on parade.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:38 pm@86
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/cable-news-ratings-msnbc-fox-news-cnn-1202637968/
Davethulhu (fab944) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:39 pmYes Venezuela where fillet De morris, is the entree, yes credit their perpspucity, they have to buy oil from Algeria.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:46 pmI could be wrong on the calendar
https://www.thenation.com/article/grand-bargain-fiscal-cliff-could-be-grand-betrayal/
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:48 pmEconomic growth is wonderful. And after 8 years of Obama, so far so good. But simply to grow out way out of this debt would take economic growth beyond even that of the 1950s and then some. And simply even in the very best of worlds, that is not happening. In fairness, neither Bush cared a bit about the debt, and Obama was only a bit worse. Nonetheless for Dems to now pretend to be deficit hawks is a joke.
Saw a town hall meeting in Queens last summer in which Congressman Greg Meeks was asked politely about the deficit. Suffice to say asking him about anything involving math was akin to a segment of “Are You Smarter Than a 6th Grader?”. And suspect his fellow Dem caucus members are little better.
DEM-Don’t Expect Math.
Bugg (08921e) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:50 pmI think they called it, the war on math,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:51 pmLester Holt now doing travelogues from Potemkin Mountain Resort:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/01/24/embarrassment-for-nbc-news-after-lester-holt-apparently-falls-for-north-korean-propaganda.amp.html
Not sure if he’s also pimping timeshares.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:53 pm68/69/70 – You do know that zerohedge exists to sell investment services, right? The link at the bottom of the article takes you to a pitch for an investment seminar from Jim Rogers, who has been predicting a bear market since 2010….I guess eventually he’ll get it right.
Read the comments, some of them are hilarious.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:57 pmApophis Now.
“…Apophis is expected to pass Earth within five Earth diameters on April 13, 2029. The exact path it takes on this date is expected to determine whether it passes by the Earth in 2036 or collides with it. Newer observations and calculations presented by NASA’s Impact Risk program predict a 1 in 256,000 chance or less of the asteroid’s orbit being changed enough for Apophis to hit Earth, despite passing by at a distance of less than one Earth radius between 2060 and 2105.”
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” – Bobby McFerrin
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:57 pmYes they are stark raving, but not any more than any bozos comment site.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:00 pm55.Count me in on pruning the waste if you include the Pentagon.
What does it take to buy a $15 billion aircraft carrier when you have a dozen already?
[ ] MC, Visa, AmEx
[X] Bitcoin
What does it take to sink a $15 billion aircraft carrier when you have a dozen already?
[ ] Exocet missiles at $1.5 mil/ea.
[X] Bitcoin
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:06 pm91 – Bugg:
crazy at 54 got it right…you have to grow the private sector faster than government, or slow govt down. Then let inflation ease the pain of debt service over a decade or so. Finally, implement Paul Ryan’s mild reforms to SS and Medicare/Medicaid. We’d be out of debt before you can say Bob’s your uncle.
All of this would take discipline and a semi-sane political class, though.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:09 pmYou are assuming facts not in evidence with holt, shame I mean,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:10 pmI still recall andreas waterworks re the wandering comas passing
https://babalublog.com/2018/01/23/stop-the-presses-for-a-bomshell-bulletin-the-miami-herald-has-just-ddiscovered-thanks-to-some-cuba-experts-that-the-castro-regime-might-occasionally-lie/
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:12 pm97 – DCSCA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG7zLhEWanc&list=PL02D02B9A144182DB&index=5
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:13 pmYou do know that zerohedge…
Many other sources to educcamate the undernourished. Please meet Mr.Google.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:15 pmBitcoin
Lots of folks going nutzo over it like the DOT.COM ponzi.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:16 pmImagine buying virtual gold with no verifiable (outside Russian sources) inventory.
WINNING!
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:19 pmBut baby, you get certificates of authenticity and lots of cool other stuff.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:21 pmLie.
Dave (445e97) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:23 pmFiscal responsibility cost Bush 41 his second term, and the deficit never exceeded 3.4% of GDP under Bush 43, despite a war and a recession that started during his second month in office.
Under Reagan, by comparison, the deficit reached 5.9% of GDP (in 1983).
Dave (445e97) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:29 pm@106. Don’t worry, your ‘Peace Dividend’ from the end of the Cold War is in the 1988 mail…
“Dan Quayle. Still gaining acceptance…” GHW Bush [Dana Carvey] SNL
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:35 pmsleazy lecherous hw bush was about as unremarkable a president as you’ll ever see
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:36 pm@109. What color was his parachute, Mr. Feet?
[ ] Red
[ ] White
[ ] Blue
[x] Yellow
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:40 pmhis parachute was stupid
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:41 pm@111. Stupid is as Sigmund does, Mr. Feet: why do you think the ol’boy kept jumping out of planes…
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:44 pmAfter joe (fricking deal) Biden, the salon of scranton. Quayle is like martin van buren,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:45 pm@101. LOL Hilarious; the sting of satire.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:45 pmAnn Coulter suicide watch, Day One…
Trump just announced that he favors a path to citizenship as part of his DACA amnesty plan:
The irony of that last sentence.
“It’s up to the Democrats, but don’t worry” belongs together with “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you”.
Since some people here seem to have short memories, I guess it’s worth a reminder that when he wanted the votes of immigration hawks, Donald Trump promised he would “immediately terminate” DACA if elected.
By “immediately terminate” I guess he meant “enshrine in law, and sweeten with a path to citizenship”. Pretty much the same thing.
Dave (445e97) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:46 pmQuayle is like martin van buren
Or as it’s spelled in Indiana: Martine Vane Burene
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:49 pmexcuse me berkeleytrash
Berkeley is much crazier than Harvard. And Timothy Leary was a Harvard man. All those idiot road ideas (e.g. “traffic calming”) come from Berkeley. I think they have a School of Idiot Notions.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:50 pmAs outlined in a fascinating article published by The Strad, a magazine devoted to orchestral strings, Nazi Germany had a formalized and effective program for plundering musical instruments from Jewish populations across Europe.
This process started as early as 1933 when all musicians playing in state–owned opera houses and music halls were mandated to register with the government in an effort to weed Jewish musicians out of these public performances.
Many times, this registration would result in a Jewish musician’s instrument getting confiscated. The Nazis became even more brazen in the 1940s, simply rounding up all instruments from Jewish ghettos and property abandoned in a besieged cities like Warsaw and Paris.
From Stradavarius to Lennon
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:54 pmOur admiral is a telegraph avenue alum, disco I’m guessing is montclair state,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:55 pmCost overruns on the wall have already begun, and construction hasn’t even started yet:
You’re already over budget, dumb@ss. You promised it would be free and Mexico would pay for 100% of it.
Let’s see. Two years ago it was free. Last week it was $18B. This week it’s $25B.
Putting Mexico’s interests ahead of the American taxpayers’ – again!
Dave (445e97) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:58 pmInstrument control, gun control as long as the word control is involved leftists are for it.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:58 pm120… Dave, calm down. He is stating the cost, not who is going to pay for it. Relax darling. I know your sole mission in life is pointing out every lie Trump ever said but now you’re reaching.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:00 pmFiscal responsibility cost Bush 41 his second term, and the deficit never exceeded 3.4% of GDP under Bush 43, despite a war and a recession that started during his second month in office.
Neither one of the Bushes cared is correct. You cite a willingness to raise taxes but I cite a complete UNwillingness to hold down spending. What cost Bush re-election was not “Read My Lips”, but a guy named Perot, who was running on a “fix the damn deficit” platform. Without Perot in the race, Bush wins going away. So, to 19% of the voters at the time, Bush’s attempts to reign in the deficit by token tax increases wasn’t a satisfying approach.
Under Reagan, by comparison, the deficit reached 5.9% of GDP (in 1983).
Yes, but Reagan was starting with an economy cripple by decades of heavy regulation. He changed things so that W’s deficits 20 years later — deficits 4 times the size of his (in 1988) — were less of the GDP which had grown by even more.
Reagan’s 5.9% deficit was about $250 billion. A deficit of about the same size in dollars in 1988 was 2.7% of the GDP because the GDP had more than doubled in the 5-year period. And Reagan was fighting an existential war, which he won conclusively, unlike either Bush.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:10 pmWait, is a deficit hawk pro or con deficit? A war hawk likes war so a deficit hawk should like deficit. So democrats are and have always been deficit hawks from the age of FDR up to and including Trump.
Democrats tend to think it’s better for the government to spend $1.5 trillion than the individual citizens and corporations. With Trump they’re getting both. And this stimulus might not just go to repairing Union Pension Infrastructure.
It’s like Limbaugh’s proposal for the Bush/Obama stimulus to split the baby. Well, it only took eight years and that stimulus is finally paying off.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:15 pm@119 =Haiku! Gesundheit!= ‘I’m guessing…’
Reaganomics.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:16 pm^@119. Apologies to the Colonel. Meant for narc’eaux
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:18 pmDuring the shutdown, federal spending set a record
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/federal-spending-set-record-during-shutdown
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:19 pmIt’s like Limbaugh’s proposal for the Bush/Obama stimulus to split the baby.
Always source an entertainer. On deck, President Winfrey.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:20 pmHes as dense as Cathy Newman of the BBC vs Jordan Petersen, yes the keynesian/phillips curve consensus was deader than the Norwegian blue parrot, ultimately there will be a reckoning maybe after apophis makes that pass.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:20 pmInstrument control, gun control as long as the word control is involved leftists are for it.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:58 pm
Notice it was a shotgun they pried from Kurt Cobain’s cold dead hands.
I know you have worse troubles than me but last night I had to explain to my kids who Lars Ulrich is. I’m probably going to have to do the same for you lol. He’s a drummer.
Whiskey in the Jar NSFW
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:21 pmActually as compared to Jon Stewart William and mary should be so proud.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:25 pmHad redqueen gone through, the fiction of Franklin rains fix couldn’t ha e worked (he was less successful at Fannie Mae.
Incompetent to stand trial
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/24/politics/special-counsel-trump-interview/
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:26 pmThanks to JVW for fixing my typo and to DRJ for catching another, which I have fixed.
Patterico (a4a3d0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:26 pmAlways source an entertainer. On deck, President Winfrey.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:20 pm
Trump is the bridge to bringing back wig presidents.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:27 pmReaganomics
Reargonomics for dummies.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:29 pm“Berkeley is much crazier than Harvard. And Timothy Leary was a Harvard man.
He taught at (and was fired from) Harvard, but his PhD was Berkeley. To be exact, he was an Alabama (BA) man….if you consider being expelled and finishing via correspondence course no biggie.
And TL was crazy like a fox. Telling kids they needed to turn in, tune in, drop out, reject wealth and commitments and then living in mansions.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:29 pm@134. Trump is the bridge to bringing back wig presidents.
Built of ebony.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:31 pmRead the comments, some of them are hilarious.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:57 pm
I bet you didn’t know this may be one of of the best times to buy silver. Aside from all the other times. It’s pretty much always a great time to buy silver. If you like that sort of thing.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:32 pmIf you had bought silver ten years ago do you know what you would have? A closet full of silver, maybe. And a really p*ssed off wife.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:37 pmWho’s your Daddy’s Swiss Miss?
[ ] Chilled Melania
[ ] Sweet Ivanka
[ ] Steamy Stormy
[X] Hot Cocoa
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:42 pm@139.If you had bought silver ten years ago do you know what you would have? A closet full of silver, maybe. And a really p*ssed off wife.
Have A Koch And A Smile.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:43 pm[] HOT! Covfefe..
[] Alternatative penetration
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:45 pmYeah pin. Thank the Kochs for depressing silver/gold.
Is your wife a democrat?
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:46 pmThen she’s on your side despite you.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:47 pmThing is Fox News wants you to buy My Pillow and CNN wants you to buy Hydroxycut or whatever. Inescapable.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:52 pmAre they large scale silver miners, that’s not their thing:
http://cafehayek.com/2012/01/lets-not-talk-past-each-other-on-the-burden-of-public-debt-issue.html
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:52 pmAm I buggin’ you? I don’t mean…to bug ya. OK Edge, play the blues…
Silver and Gold U2
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:58 pm
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:03 pmAhhh, Pinandpuller therein lies the rub. If you had traded in silver stocks like I do you would have made big money. I don’t buy stocks, I trade them. And Trump has been very good for me so far. In reality it has more to do with my personal trading style than anything Trump or Hussein or any president has done.
Fox during the day appears to be supported by the catheter cartel. How did THAT industry decide, one day,we need to advertise this important product on TV to the masses. Were people going into Walgreens and CVS and comparing and contrasting the prices and features of the various brands, and now needed guidance. Who writes, films and stars is such commercials? How does an agent call his actor client to tell him, forget playing a minor role on “Law & Order”, he got a call from Acme Catheter for your services.
Bugg (08921e) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:08 pmOT. Politically correct history. I’m watching Vikings and they have a Viking army lined up on a battlefield like Romans. Ridiculous. Next they show about one third of the Viking army to be women. Ridiculous. And those women, all 115 pounds of them are swinging a 5 pound sword like it’s a pretzel rod and killing ten or twenty 6′ 200 pound enemy warriors. The liberals turn everything into sh!t to perpetuate their narrative.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:10 pmWell that’s ridiculous they were marauders, pirates by their very nature they did not operate like a phalanx
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:13 pmLarry Nassar sentenced to 175 years for sexual abuse but by the Perkins Axiom, he deserves a mulligan.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:13 pmThat “My Pillow” dude, Mike Lindell they say went from a crack addict to worth $100 million. Ona pillow! A freakin’ pillow!
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:14 pmNot sure if he’s also pimping timeshares.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/24/2018 @ 3:53 pm
Lester Holt Play Bass Guitar Overnight Infomercial inbound.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:16 pmWhat do you expect, the cablers are going to pitch product to the demo that doesn’t want to re-learn the wheel of streaming services.
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:16 pm113… I know, narciso it pisses me off to no extent. It’s like they just don’t care and think we’re the dumbass kids they’re used to. Vikings lined up like legions and masses of women in hand to hand battle. What, the Vikings didn’t care if their women were slaughtered and they couldn’t make the next generation of Vikings? Were they that stupid they stuck them into battle?
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:18 pmRe complementary items, I had always thought the answer was “bedbugs”:
http://www.businessinsider.com/mattress-firm-conspiracy-grows-after-accounting-problems-2018-1
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:18 pmLarry Nassar sentenced to 175 years for sexual abuse but by the Perkins Axiom, he deserves a mulligan.
Because a hooker who claims she got paid $130,000 for it is just like a 13-year old girl who thought her doctor was treating her for a sports injury.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:21 pmBut its really a Norwegian soap, its better than their previous alien superstorm Dan brown combo, but not by much.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:23 pmAt least Dougie Jones (mentioned in article) has scintilla of a self preservation gene: http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/24/sen-joe-manchin-agrees-with-trump-we-need-a-wall-video/
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:25 pmurbanleftbehind, I made that observation a decade ago. How often do you buy a mattress? Now admittedly my wife is a nut case and she buys $5,000 mattresses but I haven’t bought one in fifteen years and I have four bedrooms. Nobody buys enough mattresses to keep all these mattress joints open. Impossible. People buy furniture more frequently than they buy mattresses and the furniture stores have all disappeared save a few any more.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:29 pmPutting on airs made me think of putting on heirs which made me think of Anna Nicole Smith.
Now Anna Nicole Smith was of some small comfort to J Howard Marshall even though her apples were misshapen and off center.
She was of zero comfort to his kids and they didn’t want to keep paying her. Is there a drug cocktail that can kill off the deficit?
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:36 pmIt’s easy to start: Sign up in 30 seconds – Complete a brief interactive course for beginners – Select one of our out-of-the-box strategies – Practice in a demo account – Fund your account with your preferred payment method – Trade with high payouts. $ 152 335 Paid to our traders yesterday. Register now and get 10.000 virtual FUNDS in case of right forecast! This is FREE! подробнее тут 6o6nv.tk
Hilde (601e23) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:50 pmFiscal responsibility cost Bush 41 his second term, and the deficit never exceeded 3.4% of GDP under Bush 43, despite a war and a recession that started during his second month in office.
Dave (445e97) — 1/24/2018 @ 4:29 pm
He also hated women and minorities and wanted to starve old people and kids and probably kicked dogs too.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:01 pm120… Dave, calm down. He is stating the cost, not who is going to pay for it. Relax darling. I know your sole mission in life is pointing out every lie Trump ever said but now you’re reaching.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:00 pm
D_V_ grades on a pass/fail basis as a Trump University guest lecturer.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:08 pm161… Mattresses? What this country needs is a good old fashioned, nationwide organized crime family war. Go to teh mattresses! Put ‘em all on the SleepTrain…
Colonel Haiku (404947) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:11 pm@134. Trump is the bridge to bringing back wig presidents.
Built of ebony.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:31 pm
The bridge, the wig or the president?
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:16 pmThat’s what we have, Colonel. Some of the families want to flood America with impoverished, sick, ignorant immigrants to replace their current voters and stuff the ballot boxes. Some want a reasonable immigration policy. The latter are racists.
Of course if immigrants were 90% republican rather than democrat the dems would be the most ardent anti-immigrationists ever. For the children, of course.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:20 pmhttps://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZeQ4KVeD1YY/WmfdnMhzGdI/AAAAAAABVdo/sx38BtAUnoIvfnuJ3wJkvWxAq43NO_UGQCLcBGAs/s1600/1%2B1_190m_p2wqnoobC21urmckio1_540.jpg
Then she’s on your side despite you.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/24/2018 @ 5:47 pm
There’s a Glock 19 under her side of the Casper Mattress. So no, not a democrat. It surprised me a little when I was making the bed the other day but there’s a kukri under my side so fair is fair.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:20 pmMissing the point entirely
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/24/merkel-macron-take-aim-trump-german-leader-warns-against-national
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:22 pmOT. Politically correct history. I’m watching Vikings and they have a Viking army lined up on a battlefield like Romans. Ridiculous. Next they show about one third of the Viking army to be women. Ridiculous. And those women, all 115 pounds of them are swinging a 5 pound sword like it’s a pretzel rod and killing ten or twenty 6′ 200 pound enemy warriors. The liberals turn everything into sh!t to perpetuate their narrative.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:10 pm
Call it Fun Fiction. It was a lot better with Travis Fimmel.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:28 pmYes what went wring with Warcraft, first of all who had ever heard of Travis fimmel.
Anyone remember that pre steampunk high tech western from the 70s
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:34 pmThat “My Pillow” dude, Mike Lindell they say went from a crack addict to worth $100 million. Ona pillow! A freakin’ pillow!
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:14 pm
So it wasn’t really his pillow keeping him up all night?
The great thing about having a crack head for a girl friend is your house is always clean.
When I worked briefly with a bunch of guys from a halfway house job service I learned about “farming the carpet”. This one guy had to leave food and juice on the bottom shelf of his refrigerator so his toddler would have something to eat while he was at work and his gf was in charge. That’s the bad part of having a crack head for a gf.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:38 pmLarry Nassar sentenced to 175 years for sexual abuse but by the Perkins Axiom, he deserves a mulligan.
At least 165 years of that has to be attributed to a societal cringe factor at watching a bunch of pre pubescent girls jump around on a mat in their underwear every four years.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:41 pmBecause a hooker who claims she got paid $130,000 for it
Ten years after (or was it 20?) sort of makes it another category. Extortion still a crime? Or is that contingent upon how fervently wished for the accusation is by a disgruntled subset of the population?
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:48 pmHahahahahahaha! http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Kerry-to-Abbas-confidante-Stay-strong-and-do-not-give-in-to-Trump-539643 (Jean Francois Kerry floats 2020 run)
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:49 pmI guess it was just me:
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:52 pmhttp://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/cliffhangers_2
Bush 43, despite a war
More like a two day punking.
Which lasted longer; Operation Desert Storm or The Schumer Shutdown.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 7:57 pmHey, that’s right! It supposedly was in 2006. By now, she fits the term “loose woman” in more ways than one and this is her way of keeping her price up.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:01 pmBy that standard Emmett Smith is due a huge payout from the Cowboys organization, cause his legs aren’t as spry as they once were.
He did provide a service once upon a time.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:11 pmbusinessinsider.com/mattress-firm-conspiracy-grows-after-accounting-problems-2018-1
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/24/2018 @ 6:18 pm
This seems worthy of a South Park episode. In West Nashville I can stand at one Mattress Firm and look at another one about a five iron away. I think they are franchises but that still doesn’t explain much. They are almost as bad as Mapco.
There are two Mapcos across the street from one another on Old Hickory Blvd and a third is a half a mile down.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:17 pmTen Years After
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:25 pmYou ever watch Storage Wars? This one episode the guy found a porcelain doll on a pedestal of a naked chinese woman. It had some age on it so the guy took it to a collector of Asian antiquities to figure out what it was.
Turns out this was a modesty tool for a Chinese doctor. When a Chinese woman visited the doc she would point to the spot on the doll that cooresponded to her ailment, thus avoiding distasteful human contact between the doctor and patient.
The thing I can’t figure is how a society that pitched girl babies into the river to drown as a matter of course developed a taboo about women and modesty so strong it percolated up to even encompass health care.
Let the Olympic association regress to the Ming Dynasty I guess.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:36 pm#Release the Memo!
ropelight (6e5506) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:43 pmGet over that archaic debt fixation.
Governments will simply keep interest rates close to zero, and if that is not enough, Treasury will again issues more bonds and hold them themselves. What they are doing now is what twice losing candidate William Jennings Bryan was promoting, but he was just a century too early.
Everyone now knows that money is simply electronic blips and as many as needed by their friends will be created and issued. That realization is why there are now so many crypto currencies.
william elbel (fd5d32) — 1/24/2018 @ 8:59 pmSo I’m watching the sentencing of Larry Nasser on Hollywood Extra.
They have this woman at the lecturn excoriating the poor [edit] culminating in her assertion that she is reclaiming these bunch of girls lost innocence.
Now I can feature that a 12 year old girl who spends her tweenie years bouncing on a trampoline learning to cartwheel, landing on their head more often than not on the way to Olympics quality might feel a certain way about that once it’s all over.
But I can’t feature how destroying a guys life, ending his career, and taking everything from him from this day to his last, equates to restoring innocence.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:01 pmNo, you cannot restore a child’s innocence. But you can give the sonofab!tch a preview of hell. With sentences this long, he’s going to get maximum/maximum security. You meet the nicest people (not) in the maximum security block of a maximum security prison.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:09 pmnk Seemed like justice was done for Doc Nasser to you, did it?
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:18 pmNo, justice would have been what you find in some Muslim countries. Castration followed by crucifixion in the desert.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:21 pmYou got a thing for child molesters? Even if you believe “if they’re big enough, they’re old enough”, these girls were not even big enough.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:23 pmAmazing the things people will say hiding under the covers with their lap top.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:31 pmSomeone who jumps to accusation at the drop of a hat and thinks that the prefix Muslim attaches in any way whatsoever to justice has lost whatever slender grasp he or she might have had to the concept once upon a time is my thinking.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:40 pmWhere wee Michigan state , the Olympic committee and abc’s responsibility in this, its not enough for them to step down, covering up such acts is cousin to the act them selves
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:42 pmAmazing the things people will say hiding under the covers with their lap top.
Apology accepted.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:43 pmThe Olympics has been a corrupt racket since Avery Brundage sold the 1936 games to Hitler, if not earlier.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:48 pmYou realize that in Muslim justice all of these girls would be serving indeterminate sentences on indecency charges, right?
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:51 pmYes I saw the film with David Shelby, back around 1988. (Most recently hews the counsel of record in the social network) the movie cowboys and Indians reminded me of that series
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:53 pmYou need to take a walk and cool off, pencil head. Find some composure.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:53 pmhey nk. The proctology exam is over. You’re having a flashback, numbnutz.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:58 pmI guess this makes haberman scully and Schmidt mulder:
http://.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/01/more-skewed-immigration-reporting-from-the-new-york-times.php
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:02 pmYour model isn’t very plausible. Let’s assume without government intervention the young guy and the old guy would each have 50 apples to consume. But the government wants the old guy to have more so it takes 3 apples from the young guy and gives them to the old guy. To make this more palatable to the young guy it promises him 6 extra apples when he gets old. If this is supposed to be an analogy to social security the actual promise is more like the young guy will get his 3 apples back when he gets old (which can be continued indefinitely without problems).
But continuing with your model in the first generation the young guy consumes 47 apples and the old guy consumes 53. In the second generation the young guy consumes 44 apples and the old guy 56. In the third generation the young guy consumes 38 apples and the old guy consumes 62. In the fourth 26 and 74. In the fifth 2 and 98. Then it blows up as you said since in the sixth generation the old guy wants 146 apples which is impossible as annual production remains 100. But this model isn’t realistic, the government’s debt isn’t held by relatively poor people (at the end consuming 2 apples a year as compared to 98) as the model implies.
A more realistic model would have the government borrowing from rich people to increase consumption among poor people.
James B. Shearer (951d11) — 1/24/2018 @ 10:07 pmQuayle is like martin van buren
Martin van Buran was 1) President and 2) a protege of Andy Jackson. Neither of those could ever be used to describe Quayle. He was also the next-to-last VP to succeed to office by election.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:37 pm*Buren
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:37 pmIf you had bought silver ten years ago do you know what you would have? A closet full of silver, maybe. And a really p*ssed off wife.
Yeah, but you can tell her that after the bombs fall, you’ll be on top of the world!
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:41 pmThe great thing about having a crack head for a girl friend is your house is always clean.
You also save a bundle on toothpaste.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:43 pmOperation Desert Storm or The Schumer Shutdown.
And if the northern half of the pincer wasn’t stopped in Turkey (they should just have rolled on through those ingrates) there wouldn’t have been any regrouping in Anwar.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:45 pm@158. Because a hooker who claims she got paid $130,000 for it is just like a 13-year old girl who thought her doctor was treating her for a sports injury.
Mulligan stew.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:47 pmCastration followed by crucifixion in the desert.
aka final round, Bob Hope Desert Classic.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:52 pmYou ever watched The Curse of Oak Island? They drill more dry holes than Robert Mueller.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/25/2018 @ 12:01 amNo, justice would have been what you find in some Muslim countries. Castration followed by crucifixion in the desert.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2018 @ 9:21 pm
I can’t use too much detail but a local girl liked the sound of the name “Sisyphus” and hung it on her son. I don’t know how she spelled it but apparently she pronounced it with more of a “Seh”. I guess she didn’t study mythology or much else.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/25/2018 @ 12:11 amYeah, but you can tell her that after the bombs fall, you’ll be on top of the world!
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/24/2018 @ 11:41 pm
I checked it out. Gold and silver have never been worth nothing.
Pinandpuller (0529df) — 1/25/2018 @ 12:14 amTrump’s Worst Worry:
[ ] FBI’s Secret Society
[ ] Flynn’s Secret Testimony
[X] McDonald’s Secret Sauce
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/25/2018 @ 12:39 amhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopathy
Osteopathy is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes manual readjustments, myofascial release and other physical manipulation of muscle tissue and bones.[1][2] Practitioners of osteopathy are referred to as osteopaths.[3][4][5] Its name derives from Ancient Greek “bone” (ὀστέον) and “sensitive to” or “responding to” (-πάθεια).
Which makes Doc Nassar an officially, approved by the state, faith healer.
Hillarious.
What do you call a faith healer nobody has any faith in?
Answer: Convict.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2018 @ 1:43 amThat’s reassuring. Because the Olympics committee can hire another shaman pretty quick. Without disruption to the training schedule.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2018 @ 2:01 am212… Over their respective careers, who took more balls to teh chin?
[ ] Pete Rose
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/25/2018 @ 5:17 am[ ] Rock Hudson
[X] DCSCA
What is it about rich African-American men from Dennis Rodman to Lester Hoax that they find Kim Jong-un and communism so darn compelling?
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:03 am212, a failed McDonald’s based “attempt on..” might be the only thing capable of stopping the DACA train.
And Papertiger, I see your points, after all why become a wrestling coach after what happened to Denny Hastert.
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:06 amJoe Biden, was a blithering idiot, wrong about every policy of the last 40 years, he plagiarized a two term labourite loser, quayle was right on number of key issues like sdi, and his advisers on the ultimate end of the Russian social experiment
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:11 amYou have to go further back to dubois and robeson, tiger, neither were rich but they were comfortable. But there are many such political pilgrims of all hues.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:22 amThe only interesting thing about wrestling wee Linda fiorentuno in vision quest.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:37 amKrugman Sounds like some guy who spent all the money his folks left him and is breaking into his kids piggybank because he wants some more ice cream.
Thud Muffle (5a4596) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:52 amClassic pot and kettle, and if anything I would have went with “Fat Cookie from Empire” instead: http://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-hud-official-lynne-patton-050931752.html
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:02 amThere aren’t enough apples in the country to induce me to wrestle Denny Hastert. I’ll pass.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:02 amThe point is essentially the same, Ryan is a crazy person with a press pass.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:07 amNow of course you might have to shut down CNN on that basis:
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2018/01/24/cnn-downplays-immigants-arrest-history-ignores-child-abuse-claims
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:11 amDoctors of Osteopathic Medicine are fully licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine.
http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-dos/what-is-a-do/Pages/default.aspx
They simply have DO instead of MD on their diplomas. They can specialize in any specialty, from family practice to neurosurgery. I know DOs who are ophthalmologists and gerontologists. They would have a slightly better background for sports medicine and orthopedics but they’re not limited to that.
nk (dbc370) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:17 amVonnegut was right for the wrong reasons:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-decline-and-fall-of-general-electric-the-poster-child-of-obamanomics/article/2646900
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:18 amKrugman’s Keynesianism is disguised socialism. He thinks that the government spending money is of greater benefit to society than individuals spending money. Yes, that simple. All the rest of his economic theorizing follows from that.
nk (dbc370) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:21 amSome blogs put the commenter’s name at the top of each comment. I like your way better.
How many words does it take to detect a Dave? A little dopamine *ping* at the bottom. Good stuff.
phunctor (034f5b) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:37 am221… as if Krugman could procreate !
Colonel Haiku (404947) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:53 amAnother one of the admirals favorite places
https://babalublog.com/2018/01/25/brave-iranian-woman-who-took-of-her-hijab-and-waved-it-during-protest-is-missing/
narciso (0f642a) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:55 amBack to topic
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lg-to-raise-prices-on-washers-after-trump-imposes-steep-tariffs-1516819656
How can anyone launder money without a machine?
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 7:59 amPT Barnum !!
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/politics/pro-trump-fundraising-trump-hotel.html?referer=
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:01 amAt the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, several crises seem to have quietly worsened under the cover of Trump’s insanity. A big one is the continuing collapse of the two major political parties – particularly the Republicans, whose dysfunction now seems beyond terminal. With characteristic myopia, the GOP establishment spent most of the past year trying to rid Washington of alt-right icon and former chief Trump strategist Steve Bannon, instead of worrying about the larger problem, i.e., the voter rage that put Trump in the White House.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:07 amhttps://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-trump-schizoid-administration-up-ended-gop-w515787
What is it about rich African-American men from Dennis Rodman to Lester Hoax that they find Kim Jong-un and communism so darn compelling?
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:03 am
Because neither has ever been to an actual ski resort?
Bugg (b7f13d) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:07 amOf course the admiral is of the group that believes ayatollahs were earnest dissidents per Richard falk,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:07 amBut were these 2 sailors part of Adm. Burn’s command? The yoot organization behind this crime might be a blast from nk’s past.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/01/25/gang-members-who-kidnapped-us-sailors-vacation-get-40-year-sentence.html
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:10 amWhat they upstaged the Dixie mafia:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hit-ayatollah-khamenei-in-his-pocketbook-1516666405
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:15 amThe new 30% import tariff just imposed on imported solar panels and solar cells is a protective tariff without benefit.
It will not revive the declining U.S. silicon solar cell industry. It will harm U.S. workers in factories manufacturing solar panels using imported solar cells. It will hurt the rapidly expanding U.S.solar industry, slowing down the rapidly growing adoption of solar across the U.S.economy and costing jobs. It will slow the reduction of green house gases and the replacement of coal and natural gas plants with cheaper, zero pollution energy.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/01/solar-import-tariff-pain-without-benefit.html
But, but …CHINA!
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:19 amNot quite, the SCR were birthed from Chicago’s North Side from appalachians and hilbilly’s who came after WW2 — in response to the PR gangs that started forming at roughly the same period. There were several of these “greaser” gangs and nk’s alma mater HS was an epicenter of that activity.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:20 amSo, in this warped mindset, Trump’s spanking sessions are issued a “pass” because, for evangelicals, the randy president is implementing “constitutionally conservative” policies when appointing judges. No matter that the institution of marriage for Red Rump is one man and three (official) women, and that his extramarital YEAR-LONG fling (obviously there is more not yet come to light) with a porn star began when his son Barron with third wife Melania was four months old.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:24 amhttp://weareflagrant.com/8077-2/
Manbearpig gave his absolution, re sky dragon warding tools, maybe we are in the mirror university.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:25 amOK, it makes for a snappy headline and Trump did say it but as we all should know by now – false material statements to a Federal investigator are a felony, with or without any “oaths”.
If Trump’s lawyers are OK with putting their, well, garrulous impulsive and undisciplined client in front of interviewers looking for a process crime, well, I can only hope they have an associate with quick reflexes standing by with a thorazine dart gun.
Or we may be on a road to some sort of Washington crisis when Mueller returns an indictment against Trump for lying and obstructing an investigation that turns up no actual collusion.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:27 amhttp://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2018/01/trump-happy-to-speak-under-oath.html
You mean like Billy Clinton, Maguire?
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:28 amWhat comes around, goes around
law of physics
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:29 amFortuately you leftists never learn that this kind of crap won’t stick and by insulting others only makes Trump win more. Hahaha. Winning!
I look forward to watching your head explode on the internet daily as President Donald J. Trump drives you batsh!t. MAGA day by day and still Hillary ain’t president. Winning!
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:30 amTheirs at least one shape shifting nazgul, over there, who masquerades as a leprachaum
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:34 amHoagie wet his $5000 mattress.
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:36 amWhen LG raised their warshmachine pricing Trump immediately raised his laundry fees.
No tickee, no cashee…
Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 1/25/2018 @ 8:42 amWhy are peoples rubrics
https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/venezuelas-eight-criminal-armies-supporting-maduro-administration/
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 9:05 amThis is why the squirrels are nine feet high:
narciso (d1f714) — 1/25/2018 @ 9:12 amhttps://legalinsurrection.com/2018/01/justice-department-warns-sanctuary-jurisdictions-of-coming-crackdown/
Maybe Nars is right about Corbin: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/25/jk-rowling-labour-party-has-turned-solipsistic-personality-cult/.
I got there from greaser gangs – The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton – J.K. Rowling.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/25/2018 @ 9:23 amHappyfeet might want to suggest taking out the “T”:
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/25/2018 @ 9:25 amhttp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/01/25/tolerance-takes-hit-americans-less-accepting-lgbt-people-2017-survey-shows/1062188001/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories
Wait ‘til teh Schiff hits teh fan!
Colonel Haiku (404947) — 1/25/2018 @ 9:25 amurbanleftbehind
I was watching Lone Star State of Mind last night and face tattoo guy could have used DJ Qualls’ maxi pad mask for sure.
There’s a story my dad tells of two guys who robbed a saloon. One guy stuttered so he didn’t say anything but on the way out he couldn’t help himself. He threw some money on the bar and said,”Th-th-the d-d-drinks are on m-m-m-me!”
They caught him.
Pinandpuller (d127f8) — 1/25/2018 @ 9:27 am@215. =Haiku!= Gesundheit!
Pitching or catching today? Only your hairdresser knows for sure.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/25/2018 @ 11:06 am@167. Yes.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/25/2018 @ 11:11 amWhile money can pile up over time, in accounts or under mattresses or in dragon hoards, the goods and services in an economy, which is the only reason to have money, generally cannot. There are a few goods that can of course be stockpiled for a long time, but it makes little economic sense to do it, and services of course cannot be stored up anywhere, since they involve a person’s time, which goes by at the rate of 3600 s / hr regardless of what anyone does.
What makes a society prosperous is not how money is distributed or how much of it there is. It is how much work people have to do to acquire the goods and services they wish to consume. The distribution of money or debt can only indirectly affect that.
Anything we a society do, lend and borrow, pass minimum wage laws, sin taxes, inflate the currency whatever–all of these are just a rain dance involving money. If we can do this rain dance in such a way as to result in people having little trouble doing enough work to get what they want to consume, society comes out ahead. There may be many ways to do it.
For all the reasons Patterico cited, I think government debt is not a good way on its own to do that dance, though perhaps offset by other things that are better ways. Consumer debt I think is probably fine for society, though some individuals won’t handle it well, which is true of any freedom.
In terms of goods and services, debt is an arrangement where one person chooses to forgo consumption now in exchange for a claim on production later. In a world where promises are not kept, and no one can predict their situation from year to year, there will be very few of these people. In a world where things are more stable, there will be many of them. But the more people producing things the less work others need to acquire them, all else being equal.
Government doing debt is like government doing anything: non-economic motives, backed by force, are not in general going to lead to the optimum economic result. Sometimes, as in taxes to fund a navy to keep the sea lanes open, are probably the best way it can realistically be done and are a net economic positive. Others, as in paying people to break windows, or junk cars that run and buy new, are net economic negatives which take costs from everyone and concentrates benefits in the hands of a few, by force.
Further than that I do not feel I can say.
Frederick (64d4e1) — 1/25/2018 @ 12:26 pmWhy do people continue to take the Darwin Challange?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42815483
harkin (d40275) — 1/25/2018 @ 5:43 pmAt least it wasn’t this bad:
urbanleftbehind (3a8cb2) — 1/25/2018 @ 6:19 pmhttp://youtu.be/Yhv-2clxlJ8
201
“A more realistic model would have the government borrowing from rich people to increase consumption among poor people.”
To reply to my own comment, consider the following model. You have two groups rich people and poor people. Each collectively has income of 50 units out of total potential production of 100 units. Poor people consume all their income (and would consume more if they could). However rich people have more income than they know what to do with. Even after buying all the stuff they want and making every investment that makes any sort of sense at all they have 3 units left over. They could buy gold or something but instead their benevolent government offers them government bonds paying 3%. Note if the US government is unwilling to do this US rich people can just buy foreign government bonds instead. German bonds or Swiss bonds. The government takes the 3 units and hands them out to poor people allowing them to consume 53 units. So total consumption is now 100 units matching production and everything is fine. Of course the next year the government needs to borrow another 3 units plus .09 units for the interest. But as long as rich people only desire to consume 47 units a year everything will be fine. They will hold increasing amounts of government debt and the interest they receive on it means they will be earning an increasing fraction of the national income. But as long as they don’t try to spend their extra income there is no problem. And actually they can spend some of it on positional goods like old master paintings or beachfront property (inflating their price) and there will still be no problem. I computed this for 100 years assuming 0 debt at the start. The first column is the year (in five year intervals), the second is the total debt at that point, the third is the annual interest (both as a fraction of GNP), and the final is the fraction of national income going to rich people.
So after 100 years debt would be 18 times GNP, interest would be half of GNP and the rich would be getting 67% of national income (up from 50% originally). This seems increasingly unstable and at some point the government might inflate the debt away or otherwise repudiate it. Or the inflation might happen naturally if rich people started trying to spend their extra income raising demand above the 100 units of supply. Debt holders would no doubt find this annoying but it wouldn’t impact their consumption as their remaining income would still cover it.
James B. Shearer (951d11) — 1/26/2018 @ 10:26 pm262. James B. Shearer (951d11) — 1/26/2018 @ 10:26 pm
3% should be sustainable, because 3% is a good rate for economic growth that we should all hope for (although it’s been underperforming that)
And if that 3% is not adjusted for inflation, even iof inflaiton is low, real debt shold decline with time.
So after 100 years debt would NOT be 18 times GNP. GNP is not fixed.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/29/2018 @ 1:49 pm263
To keep things simple I assumed 0 inflation and no growth. If you some assume some inflation and some growth then the ratio of debt to GNP will increase more slowly.
James B. Shearer (951d11) — 1/29/2018 @ 3:54 pm