Don’t forget my kids, who will inherit the debt like I had to.
Imo it’s definitely 2fold now that tax rates have been gut. You can’t increase expenses AND cut taxes while expecting to be considered fiscal.
TBH I’d settle for less of a monstrosity of defense spending at this point
My friend travels all over the world for “medical conferences”. As an Asian (Chinese), he felt especially welcome when he visited Israel (Jerusalem area I think -Dead Sea, Western Wall). He got the impression it was due to his ethnicity.
Was he correct? Or was his respectful, “white collar professional” demeanor something Israelis in particular appreciate and respect lol?
I don’t think so. Israel has a large tourist economy, so tourist are generally treated pretty well.
If he was treated differently, it may be that he wasn’t simply another New York/New Jersey person who always seem to be underfoot.
Asians ARE something of a novelty in Israel (even though we are technically in Asia, depending on the geologist to whom you talk), so there might be something to the theory. We’d have to run a test with two similar guys, one Asian and one not, and see.
Indian (the country) business friends of mine really like Israel and feel they are treated well. I always assumed it is because we share some of the same bad neighbors (and are increasingly strategic military and economic partners). But maybe there is some affinity for Asians that I’ve never known about.
That is a big deal in Israel. Professionals will be treated a lot different that a typical shorts-wearing-at-the-Kotel clueless tourist. It’s THE Temple. Anyone who is respectful is a breath of fresh air. Most people are not.
It actually doesn’t really work that way. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Briefly, the government gives the government and IOU and the government prints money and gives it to the govenment.
Sure, some people buy the IOUs. But it’s really just printing money, since T-bills are only payable in US dollars. The IOUS (the T-bills) are just printed money.
So there is no “debt inherited”. It’s just inflationary – right here and now. Your dollar is worth less.
Think about it – taxes are the government taking money from you to buy goods and services, which lessens your purchasing power to buy goods and services. Printing more money does the exact same thing – it just directly lessens your purchasing power by devaluing the dollar. It’s the same thing, but different people are impacted in different ways.
This is the power (and weakness) of fiat currency. Blame Alexander Hamilton if it goes awry.
There are actually attempts at quantifying the “tax” of deficit spending by figuring the “M4” (or whatever the number is for “all the money ever issued,” I can’t remember) and then figuring out how much new money is printed (including electronically). I think it comes out to something like 5% last year – which is the “devaluation tax”.
Interestingly, the inflation has been less than the devaluation tax – I think largely because so much of T-bills are held off in China and Japan. They’re the ones (along with pensioners and people with things like CDs) getting hurt.
Then it does in fact work that way, doesn’t it? As time goes on and the inflation continues to push from the govt lending to itself (and from China) with debt, future generations inherit a stronger effect (bigger detriment to their lives).
So my spending power has been lessened by this effect to a larger degree than my father, and my children will be to a larger degree than me. Your personal cash flow and net worth is tied to these effects, and is partially responsible for why we’re seeing a global normalization of quality of lives.
Granted. But this style of self funding isn’t the only worry. You also have the compounding problem of future debt obligations growing (with no end in sight) after cutting taxes to such a degree that it’s no longer a lever you can pull to relieve pressure on the economy.
Also because all of the metrics used to measure inflation are heavily govt subsidized. Inflation is another lever pols can tinker with, but can’t quite fully control.
Well you’re kinda describing most of the first world economies here.
No, not exactly. You’re correct that that the devaluation of the currency is more-or-less permanent, but the devaluation effect occurs NOW and is corrected by inflation on the other side of the trade. It’s a bit like quantum physics, but economics and makes your head hurt if someone who doesn’t know how to explain it tries to explain it. And I’m butchering the explanation. I’m flying back from Japan, so I should have considerable down time and should be able to find it.
Here’s my crappy attempt:
The simplest idea would be, you are a person with $1. Apples are currently $0.25/apple. The government announces it will print 100% more money tomorrow, devaluing your $1 by 50%. When you go to the store to buy an apple, what is the price now? Well, it will be $0.50 because the store (who wants to buy stuff with your money) will change its price. So then your employer pays you more money now, your house is worth twice, etc.
So the devaluation is both immediate and yet not permanent — EXCEPT to people who have holdings in dollars (so cash, t-bills, savings accounts, fixed pensions not indexed to inflation, etc.). That’s why it hurts other countries.
What is NOT devalued (long term) are commodities, real estate, personality, most stocks (depending on the industry), etc. This is why really rich people buy things like oil well royalties, buildings, etc. And labor (since wages increase). So, no, unless you are leaving your children a giant inheritance of T-bills and CDs, this does not affect them, at all.
There are all sorts of lags and arbitrages in the real world, so it doesn’t work this cleanly, but I am trying to simplify it the best this engineer-turned-lawyer can do. I’m no economist, but I do sit on the boards of 3 NYSE companies, so I’ve become intimately familiar with this.
Probably the most “real world” effect is that, as wages rise (and the value of your stuff rises), you slip UP in income tax brackets and the estate tax is more likely to get you. So people who didn’t used to be in the higher tax brackets are now in the higher tax brackets — despite their actual buying power being the same. So yes, this sucks. It’s a great weakness of the graduated income tax, and one of the things that flat-taxers like to point out. It’s not fair at all to the upper-middle class (or anyone else who gets moved up a bracket without more buying power).
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Another way of thinking about it is from Yogi Berra. He ordered a pizza. They asked him if he wanted it cut in four pieces or eight. He said “Four! I’m not hungry enough to eat eight.”
His sarcasm is the true lesson here – UNLESS your holdings are “one piece of pizza” (which just got smaller). Think of the piece of pizza as holdings in dollars. Unless your holdings are dollars (directly or indirectly), this doesn’t affect you – or your kids. Your kids get your house – which went up with inflation.
Stock splits work this way, too.
Well you’re kinda describing most of the first world economies here.
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No, sorry. Miss-cue on my part. Japan and China (because they are reliant on foreign trade) are giant holders of dollars. As such, they are disproportionately impacted by dollar devaluation, as their holdings decrease in spending value. But yes, anyone who holds wealth in dollars is impacted. And most developed countries use dollars, as they should, because it is, bar none, the best currency for trade.
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Summary: when someone complains about deficit spending, say “yes, it’s a wealth tax on people who hold their savings in dollars”
If someone says “I don’t like deficit spending because my children will inherit the debt, say, no, it’s a wealth tax on people who hold their savings in dollars. It doesn’t directly impact children unless they inherit savings in dollars – unless they move up the income tax brackets without an increase in actual buying power or the estate become taxable without an increase in real value.”
Question for the other side. I am currently sitting in an airport in Asia (Japan) about to fly to the states.
Do Japanese and Chinese have an affinity for Jewish people?
I say this because I’ve had some weird experiences, generally with very drunk Chinese people (smart businessmen) who have seriously asked me about Jewish mystical abilities with money, and if I can teach them or must one worship the G-d of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob to obtain those powers.
Yep.
What I find a bit sad is no one even cares anymore or pretends to care. Used to have a decent amount of people at least say it was an issue and one worth dealing with. Now we have someone who had stated it would be no big deal to default on it and then said it doesn’t matter because we print our own money.
This. In his never ending attempt to categorize everyone and dice them into groups he ignores the individual. Here we have a Nazi talking about other people not serving being an issue. Which might make sense if you had served. But it’s just hilarious when someone hasn’t.
“Hey I didn’t serve and I think it’s an issue on how many Jews serve. And you best show me the revolutionary war numbers to prove me wrong!”
That’s actually a true statement. Default is impossible because we can simply print more money. It’s literally smoke and mirrors.
The reason politicians don’t fight it anymore is something like 60% of the budget is non-discretionary spending on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Pensions, etc. No politician will touch any of that.
Just can’t stop keepin it classy -named in divorce papers this week…
The fact the wife is 55 and the husband 38 has nothing to do with it. If you read the article the wife is probably just building a “case” against the husband to get custody of their kid. She even says he put their kid in danger.
It’s amazing how this woman has become the biggest boogeyman since Obama and birtherism.
Well, there are credible allegations that Omar married her biological brother. Having the kids around someone who potentially committed incest is certainly fair game in discovery and would be a factor in who gets custody, if true.
So it looks like one question about Omar is soon to be answered, one way or the other.
There really aren’t. Even the motive given for the marriage makes no sense. She is a citizen, as her brother he could have obtained it as well; there was no need for a marriage.
Yeah, I don’t know what is going on there. I do know that there is more than enough to get her deposed and her records subpoenaed. The bar for discovery is extremely low.
So, like I said, the truth will come out.
The biggest problem for her, and personally I don’t care about her marriages and sex life, are the accusations related to campaign finances.
If adultery was a disqualifer from public office, let he who is without sin make the first Tweet. Look at who we have for president. And he wasn’t the first nor the worst.
Right. If she paid $230k of campaign finances to the 38yo man to get laid… look out.
Notice how this guy married a doctor and now Omar is footing his bills. He’s always on the hunt for a sugar momma.
I think that’s probably true, although if it’s true she had a sham marriage to get her brother citizenship, she’ll go to prison. Which would also suck for her.
The results would be awful though.
I don’t get, I cannot get, I never figured out why people are anti-semetic. All the supposed ‘crimes’ I have ever heard about were just nothing. “Oh those damn Jews worked hard and became successful in a place they shouldn’t have!” Seems like a pithy indictment for the hatred displayed by far too many.
As far as militarily, the worst words the middle east could hear is that the U.S. have unconstrained them and any attacks against the homeland will be met will the full force of the IDF.
And I love the Mossad. They are pure badasses.
I am not trying to blow sunshine up your ass, it’s just how I really feel. I don’t get anti-semitism.
I was friends with a Muslim fella at my old job and we got pretty close for a while. He was as peaceful and tolerant and moderate as the next guy, until it came to Israel, his hate was palpable. I asked him why his answer was garbage, like Jews invade everybody’s territory and run everything like a puppet master. I was friendly enough with him to call bullshit, but his rebuttle was little more than a mumble stating basically that the Jews were the natural enemy of the Muslims.
Hence, it’s not a far line to draw that Tlaib and Omar are anti-semites for religious reasons. Considering what they have said, combined with the Jew being the natural enemy of the Muslim, it’s not hard to figure.