You realize that America can inflate its way out of debt, right?

[4est_4est_Gump]

And LT, this should appeal to your Communist sensibilities, you can download "The Sophisms of the Protectionalists,"

FREE!

my Comrade, at Project Gutenberg...

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Tell that to the millions of American workers who have lost their jobs to Mexico, China and India. They lose their jobs because the US dollar is so strong and this exacerbates the cheapness of foreign labor.

We have to get the dollar down in order for American jobs to come back.

No. What we gotta do is get government off the back of commerce.

 

[Ishmael]

What LT knows about economics you could stuff up a gnats ass without discomforting the gnat.

Ishmael

 

[shadowsbeauty]

You need to add Obamas BFF G.E to that dollar bill my friend

 

[RobDownSouth]

I do think references to the Weimar Republic are spurious here. They had rampant out of control inflation. Nobody is proposing that.

Here's an interesting article about 'Why inflation could be good for us'. It's just a blog but it's interesting. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/MutualFunds/why-inflation-would-be-good-for-us.aspx

<< There's another way, but it involves a question we may not want to ask: Could high inflation be good for us?

It might be just what we need, according to one line of thinking on Wall Street and in Washington these days. But it means inviting something that's been economic enemy No. 1 over the past 30 years.>>

Patrick

Many ignorant folks here trot out the "hyperinflation!!" and "Weimar" memes at the mention of inflation. They fail tor realize that while too much inflation is bad, too little inflation is equally bad, as it causes economic stagnation.

I've read that the optimal rate of inflation for a first-world country is somewhere around 3.2 percent per year.

 

[richard_daily]

Tell that to the millions of American workers who have lost their jobs to Mexico, China and India. They lose their jobs because the US dollar is so strong and this exacerbates the cheapness of foreign labor.

We have to get the dollar down in order for American jobs to come back.

The dollar is strong? Maybe against the extremely under-inflated yaun, but against real currency? not a chance.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Many ignorant folks here trot out the "hyperinflation!!" and "Weimar" memes at the mention of inflation. They fail tor realize that while too much inflation is bad, too little inflation is equally bad, as it causes economic stagnation.

I've read that the optimal rate of inflation for a first-world country is somewhere around 3.2 percent per year.

Uh, no.

Government creates inflation which steals value from its currency and increases taxes. All inflation does is water down the soup, and Uncle Sambo gets his bowl of soup before he adds the water.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Uh, no.

Government creates inflation which steals value from its currency and increases taxes. All inflation does is water down the soup, and Uncle Sambo gets his bowl of soup before he adds the water.

And those closest to the inflation, the former TOO BIG TO FAIL business community benefit the most while those furthest from it, the Middle-Class are hurt the most.

I thought the Democrats had become the new champions of the Middle Class for this election cycle.

 

[phrodeau]

The dollar is strong? Maybe against the extremely under-inflated yaun, but against real currency? not a chance.

Does Chinese money bore you?

 

[JohnnySavage]

And those closest to the inflation, the former TOO BIG TO FAIL business community benefit the most while those furthest from it, the Middle-Class are hurt the most.

I thought the Democrats had become the new champions of the Middle Class for this election cycle.

Everybody will be a millionaire!!!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

And those closest to the inflation, the former TOO BIG TO FAIL business community benefit the most while those furthest from it, the Middle-Class are hurt the most.

I thought the Democrats had become the new champions of the Middle Class for this election cycle.

Democrats like dieting, and watery soup is just the thing. They hate the middle-class cuz Main Street capitalism is just too much work.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Uh, no.

Government creates inflation which steals value from its currency and increases taxes. All inflation does is water down the soup, and Uncle Sambo gets his bowl of soup before he adds the water.

[shrug] It all worked out all right in the New Deal. (Yes, actually, it did. Hoover's America could not have taken on Hitler.)

 

[richard_daily]

Uh, no.

Government creates inflation which steals value from its currency and increases taxes. All inflation does is water down the soup, and Uncle Sambo gets his bowl of soup before he adds the water.

Please explain how "Government creates inflation". This should be good for a laugh.

 

[great lover]

Debt is relative.

I owe you 20 grand, I have a problem.

I owe you 20 million, you have a problem.

With LT, make it 20 trillion!

LT can afford to throw away 20 million at one poker game.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Please explain how "Government creates inflation". This should be good for a laugh.

Three ways: It adds water to the soup when it prints money; it confiscates taxes, redistributes the money, and more people compete for the same supply of stuff; and via regulations that increase costs and reduce supply.

For example: Fubar County closed a strip bar the other day, and 50 women lost their jobs. The county closed the bar over a zoning regulation. Government can and does regulate zoning but problems usually arise when bureaucrats are pressured to torture the rules for political ends....that is, bribes for politicians. Bribes increase operating costs.

Manhole covers. Fubar County requires that manhole covers include the year the covers are accepted by the county. If the covers are installed at the end of December, and the county inspector waits till January to inspect the work, you gotta buy new covers. They arent cheap.

 

[Byron In Exile]

What LT knows about economics you could stuff up a gnats ass without discomforting the gnat.

Two quarks short of a neutron.

 

[shoulderblade]

I've read that the optimal rate of inflation for a first-world country is somewhere around 3.2 percent per year.

I have read that as well.

I don't know if other countries do this but the Bank of Canada actually has a 'target' of between 2-3%.

Inflation may be somewhat natural. Each producer wishes to assume ' what the market will bear' so prices edge upward.

We also know virtually nothing about deflation so a little of what we do know looks like a safer option.

 

[KingOrfeo]

No. What we gotta do is get government off the back of commerce.

Show me some place where that worked out well.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Three ways: . . . it confiscates taxes, redistributes the money, and more people compete for the same supply of stuff . . .

Bullshit. Government is "stuff," same way your doctor's or accountant's services are "stuff." Economically, government is not some kind of parasitic growth on the private sector.

 

[shoulderblade]

Bullshit. Government is "stuff," same way your doctor's or accountant's services are "stuff." Economically, government is not some kind of parasitic growth on the private sector.

Depends somewhat on the quality of government, I would imagine. If government is inefficient or delusional it will be a drag on the economy.

On the other hand government that 'knows its place' and provides efficient services is actually a big asset. i.e. good roads, policing, minimal red tape etc

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Show me some place where that worked out well.

Standard Oil comes to mind.

John D.Rockefeller achieved 3 or 4 huge successes: He put the American whaling industry outta business with cheap kerosene; he ended hookworm disease in the South; he killed the hardwood barrel industry (before Rockefeller created railroad tank cars the Eastern US was virtually void of hardwood forests); he cut the price of lamp oil from 95 cents a gallon to a nickle; one share of Standard Oil common stock increased from $25 in 1870 to $250,000 in the 1920s. His list of accomplishments is long. Did I mention U of Chicago and Rockefeller U?

After 1900 government reformers rode him like a horse.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Standard Oil comes to mind.

John D.Rockefeller achieved 3 or 4 huge successes: He put the American whaling industry outta business with cheap kerosene; he ended hookworm disease in the South; he killed the hardwood barrel industry (before Rockefeller created railroad tank cars the Eastern US was virtually void of hardwood forests); he cut the price of lamp oil from 95 cents a gallon to a nickle; one share of Standard Oil common stock increased from $25 in 1870 to $250,000 in the 1920s. His list of accomplishments is long. Did I mention U of Chicago and Rockefeller U?

After 1900 government reformers rode him like a horse.

Standard Oil used monopolistic practices (it controlled 70% of refined oil in the USA) to bankrupt its competitors and drive them out of business.

THAT is the standard you want America to return to?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Standard Oil used monopolistic practices (it controlled 70% of refined oil in the USA) to bankrupt its competitors and drive them out of business.

THAT is the standard you want America to return to?

Rockefeller recognized that refining is the key to riches in the oil business, so he bought every refinery he could until he controlled most of them. He offered every refiner cash or Standard Oil common stock, and almost all of them took the cash. Few of the refiners were major players, and few of them made any money refining oil. Rockefeller bought and sold commodities before getting into oil, and knew you cant make any money buying and selling small amounts of anything.

He didnt twist anyones arm to get their refinery; enough refiners wanted to sell, and Rockefeller accrued the lions share of refining business.

Rockefeller was clever. Plenty of people tried to fuck him. But he used his noodle to outwit them, and they hated him when he did it. He couldnt get wood barrels, so he used steel drums. The teamsters tried to shake him down, so he transported his oil in tankcars. The railroads tried to screw him, so he built pipelines to the refineries. And when all the local politicians tried to hose him, he built large refineries in fewer places.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Rockefeller recognized that refining is the key to riches in the oil business, so he bought every refinery he could until he controlled most of them. He offered every refiner cash or Standard Oil common stock, and almost all of them took the cash. Few of the refiners were major players, and few of them made any money refining oil. Rockefeller bought and sold commodities before getting into oil, and knew you cant make any money buying and selling small amounts of anything.

He didnt twist anyones arm to get their refinery; enough refiners wanted to sell, and Rockefeller accrued the lions share of refining business.

Rockefeller was clever. Plenty of people tried to fuck him. But he used his noodle to outwit them, and they hated him when he did it. He couldnt get wood barrels, so he used steel drums. The teamsters tried to shake him down, so he transported his oil in tankcars. The railroads tried to screw him, so he built pipelines to the refineries. And when all the local politicians tried to hose him, he built large refineries in fewer places.

You're correct, but you didn't answer my question. Are monopolies "good for America"? I say emphatically that they are NOT.

Rockefeller's preferred method of expanding his markets was to make competing refiners in new territories an offer they couldn't refuse. If they declined his offer, he'd build a competing refinery and institute predatory pricing that his competitors could not match, and Rockefeller had such deep pockets he could starve his competition out, bankrupting most of them and buying their assets for pennies on the dollar. Once his monopoly in a given area was assured, he would raise prices to ass-rape levels.

Once again: do you believe monopolies are good for America?

 

[Byron In Exile]

Standard Oil used monopolistic practices (it controlled 70% of refined oil in the USA) to bankrupt its competitors and drive them out of business.

THAT is the standard you want America to return to?

I've never heard you bitch about Microsoft.