OT: US National debt

Fyron · #1 November 4th, 2004, 12:40 PM

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When it really hits... well, take a look what happened during the Great Depression. Then multiply it over the entire globe.

The Great Depression did affect the entire globe. That is why it was so "Great." Recall what happened in Europe during those years...

Raging Deadstar · #2 November 4th, 2004, 12:48 PM

If i recall my history it was in 1930's, and was one of the main causes for allowing Hitler to rise to power with the Nazi Party, the rest as they say, is History.

Will · #3 November 4th, 2004, 01:23 PM

It was global, yes, but not to the degree that it would be now. There isn't a substantial economy in the world that is not directly and intricately tied to the US economy. Even the planned economy of China, which would normally be able to (theoretically) ignore the value of money in the outside world and focus only on internal production, would be affected since a large portion of the economy is now dedicated to foreign trade. In the Great Depression of the 1920's and 1930's, the shockwaves sent out from economic collapse were buffered somewhat by multiple layers between some economies, simply because of geographic limitations to trade. Now most of the geographic limitations are lifted, and anyone can trade with practically anyone else.

Time for work...

parabolize · #4 November 4th, 2004, 05:25 PM

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Will said:
It was global, yes, but not to the degree that it would be now. There isn't a substantial economy in the world that is not directly and intricately tied to the US economy. Even the planned economy of China, which would normally be able to (theoretically) ignore the value of money in the outside world and focus only on internal production, would be affected since a large portion of the economy is now dedicated to foreign trade. In the Great Depression of the 1920's and 1930's, the shockwaves sent out from economic collapse were buffered somewhat by multiple layers between some economies, simply because of geographic limitations to trade. Now most of the geographic limitations are lifted, and anyone can trade with practically anyone else.

Time for work...

Asia would fall as fast or faster then the USA but... Europe? I think the EU would be fine this time. South/Central America wouldn't do to well.

solops · #5 November 4th, 2004, 06:26 PM

National debt is easy to eliminate. You just cause enough inflation that the debt becomes insignificant. The accompanying recession might be uncomfortable.

Starhawk · #6 November 4th, 2004, 06:30 PM

Wouldn't that cause a "great depression" that everyone is afraid of? Or was that just a joke you were making?

It's hard to tell sometimes

tesco samoa · #7 November 4th, 2004, 07:52 PM

well you would be able to pay off your mortgage as your purchase price would be around the cost of a loaf of bread...
if you go full out turtledove inflation.

Renegade 13 · #8 November 5th, 2004, 03:19 AM

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parabolize said:

Quote:

Will said:
It was global, yes, but not to the degree that it would be now. There isn't a substantial economy in the world that is not directly and intricately tied to the US economy. Even the planned economy of China, which would normally be able to (theoretically) ignore the value of money in the outside world and focus only on internal production, would be affected since a large portion of the economy is now dedicated to foreign trade. In the Great Depression of the 1920's and 1930's, the shockwaves sent out from economic collapse were buffered somewhat by multiple layers between some economies, simply because of geographic limitations to trade. Now most of the geographic limitations are lifted, and anyone can trade with practically anyone else.

Time for work...

Asia would fall as fast or faster then the USA but... Europe? I think the EU would be fine this time. South/Central America wouldn't do to well.

I doubt that. There's a reason why it's called a "world economy". No part of the world would be spared in the event of a second great depression, not the EU, not Asia, not North America. It's simply a question of how badly any given country is affected. Some would undoubtedly be worse than others.

For instance, during the Great Depression, the Soviet Union did fairly well, since they were barely industrialized, and were not exporting hardly anything. Therefore, the "global" disaster didn't really affect them a lot. Of course, the same thing could not happen in the event of another Depression, since the same situations no longer exist.