Manhattan Buckeye;1396139 wrote:
At this point I don't see any other solution. We've mathematically destroyed our currency. Our saving grace is that we are less crappy than other currencies. We've experienced generational theft for decades. It might actually end now that we've more or less stopped making promises to our young people. More like, "Well, we screwed it up, so you take care of that and learn from our mistakes."
Not sure I completely agree that we've "destroyed" our currency. Like you said, it's globally a game of outrunning the bear. If they hadn't been weakening the dollar our export industry would have died. We're fine vs GBP and EUR, the yen is pretty strong (about 15-20% above where Japan likes it to be)...CAD has done well because of exports. The Yuan is pegged. Not much value in being good, just be a little better than the rest.
But the elephant in the room is that rates aren't going to stay here forever, even in a new low-rate global environment. If rates creep-up 3pts you're talking $500B - look what that would do to spending/deficits!
And not many people are talking about how these rates are badly hurting retirees on fixed incomes. So you start seeing how the gubmit has backed itself into a corner - can't cut SS/Medicare because retirees are already taking it on their interest income.
What pisses me off is most of these politicians don't really care about that. They'll be retired or dead, and most will have accumulated enough money (ahem) such that they can largely insulate themselves from that day of reckoning. Once again it's the poor and middle class, with no such options, that will really suffer.