America is ungovernable

[ddrueding]

I'm honestly surprised. I expected Stereodude to be with me on this one; massive government bloat, huge bureaucratic inefficiencies?

At the same time I expected the more liberal here to be aghast at the notion that some loss of life is a cost of doing business, a price of our success.

While ignoring the attack altogether would have made more sense than our current actions, there is a massive chasm of more viable options in between. Why didn't we discover who specifically was responsible and then find/kill them? That is a job for the CIA and a special forces team (as we ended up doing successfully in the end). Why didn't we talk to the Israelis about securing airplanes from terrorists? They have more enemies than us in closer proximity, yet have a less intrusive, less expensive, and less time consuming security process?

 

[Stereodude]

If you start with faulty numbers you end up at faulty conclusion. Your starting point is wrong.

Does the TSA suck, sure. Is the security theater at airport absurd? Sure. Should we have tucked tail and pretended that radical militant Islamist don't want to kill us? Not a chance.

 

[Howell]

Time's post applies to dd last para and would apply to sd's last para except that it's sarcastic.

 

[snowhiker]

World Reserve Currency debate

Question: What happens when the U.S. Dollar is cast aside by the rest of the world and is no longer the worlds reserve currency?

No big deal -or- OH SHIT!!!

some random links via Google...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency
http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontev...ies-as-dollars-reserve-currency-status-fades/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703313304576132170181013248.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...rve-currency-to-prevent-trade-imbalances.html
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investin...rency-status-means-for-your-investments/2065/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...case-for-new-reserve-currency/article1870084/
http://rt.com/news/stocks-economy-usa-asia/
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.e272eaa74dccc30f21c6ff7638b0f37b.461
http://www.thenewamerican.com/econo...os-us-dollar-no-longer-world-currency-reserve

 

[ddrueding]

Question: What happens when the U.S. Dollar is cast aside by the rest of the world and is no longer the worlds reserve currency?

I think we are a long, long way from that happening. We are indeed in bad shape, but look at the alternatives.

Euro - worse
Yuan - politically driven therefore unstable
BitCoin - "The man" doesn't have control so it will be shot down

 

[Stereodude]

Question: What happens when the U.S. Dollar is cast aside by the rest of the world and is no longer the worlds reserve currency?

The idiots in Washington will have to learn how to balance a budget and the people suckling at the teats will find out what happens when the sow runs dry.

Everyone else will enjoy watching their savings become worthless and enjoy taking a wheelbarrow full of hundreds to the store to buy groceries.

 

[snowhiker]

I think we are a long, long way from that happening. We are indeed in bad shape, but look at the alternatives.

I was thinking China, EU, Japan, middle east and perhaps Russia ... "joining forces" and creating an alternative reserve currency when it looks like we might actually default, not that BS (not really going to happen) default earlier this summer.

 

[snowhiker]

The idiots in Washington will have to learn how to balance a budget and the people suckling at the teats will find out what happens when the sow runs dry.

Everyone else will enjoy watching their savings become worthless and enjoy taking a wheelbarrow full of hundreds to the store to buy groceries.

I figured $6-10/gallon gas practically overnight, but serious hyper inflation is some scary shit.

 

[Chewy509]

but serious hyper inflation is some scary shit.

Yep, just ask those in Zimbabwae. When they got paid at the start of the week (which was enough to cover rent, fuel, food, etc quite easily), the value of the same amount at the end of the week would barely buy a loaf of bread...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar

 

[ddrueding]

My wife actually has real experience with that at the end of the Soviet Union days. It's interesting, the last time I suspected significant inflation I converted much of our savings to assets (bought a house, some cars, etc) and it didn't happen. Now that I don't have 6 figures of cash lying around, I'm only worried about the hyper variety.

If there is anything the Euro has taught us, it is that you can't share a currency and not share a fiscal policy. The EU itself is showing some major flaws, and I'm wondering how much longer the Germans will put up with their Mediterranean neighbors crap before getting out. I know China and Japan don't want any of that...or anything to do with each other.

 

[time]

Germany is f**ked either way, the masses are just too stupid to realize.

If they reintroduced their own currency, it would be the world's premium currency. The crippling exchange rate would destroy their exports.

They've basically been getting rich at the expense of their poorer cousins in the EU. Not their fault, but now they'll have to pay the piper, one way or the other.

I don't know how much longer the world is supposed to tolerate China's similar trick on a much grander scale.

 

[ddrueding]

I suspect that China will suffer a self-imposed slowdown in the not too distant future. The masses that have been filling the governments coffers are starting to want some of the goods that they have been making.

Next up: India.

 

[mubs]

Nope. China has become what it has with exports. India has a very strong domestic economy compared to China. India's also more diversified as far as its economy goes.

 

[ddrueding]

That is good to hear. When I was there a decade ago it seemed that India was still struggling with what to do with itself; having tons of labor, a decent work ethic, and an internal hunger to better itself.

 

[snowhiker]

Regarding China and its real estate bubble...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPILhiTJv7E&feature=player_embedded

Modern day ghost towns in China. According to this documentary by SBS Dateline (Australian TV) there are massive cities being built that nobody can afford to live in.

One interesting factoid of the video: 64,000,000 EMPTY apartments in China!

 

[ddrueding]

Regarding China and its real estate bubble...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPILhiTJv7E&feature=player_embedded

Modern day ghost towns in China. According to this documentary by SBS Dateline (Australian TV) there are massive cities being built that nobody can afford to live in.

One interesting factoid of the video: 64,000,000 EMPTY apartments in China!

Fascinating. For those who love to wander around Google Earth, here is a page with links to the cities in the story.