Koch Brothers

[josephpalazzo]

(3) Of the $4T owed to foreigns, half of that goes to China and Japan. So it is in the interest of the US to keep interest rates low as we have in the past 5 years, and to flood the market with money as we have with QE1-2-3, by doing that, we de-evaluate our currency, meaning that the money we owe foreigners is worth less, notwithstanding that flooding the market with money is the only way right now to stimulate a sluggish economy.

Wouldn't that mean that money owed to Americans is devalued as well?  Come to think of it, it would also mean that any money that I save for a rainy day or retirement is worth less.  That's pretty messed up.

If you buy American products in the scenario I have illustrated, your money is not devalued. It is devalued if the US CPI would go up. Currently, the CPI for the month of August is 0.1%, and year-to-year, it is at 1.5%, so those who are crying foul over inflation have no understanding of basic economics. Flooding the market with money in a falling or stagnant economy will not affect inflation. You can worry about this flooding IF the economy were superheating. This is not the case for what we have been experiencing since 2008.

[josephpalazzo]

A devalued currency will increase our exports and decrease our imports, which is the right policy to increase jobs at home. So people will buy less French wine and drink more California wine, etc. And you lose if you are a tourist, but if you stay at home and buy American products, you will be fine.

What exports?  You fantasizing about exporting all the goods we no longer make in factories that were already outsourced to mexico and china?  Do you have any clue about the decline in manufacturing over the last 30 years?

That's because in the past China has pegged unfairly its currency to the US dollar, not allowing it to fluctuate like all the countries are doing. With this policy, Chinese goods have been selling at cheap price, hence our huge trade deficit. But we can retaliate and reverse this trend by making the US dollar cheaper, which is exactly what this administration is doing by flooding the market with trillions of US dollars.

[Solitary]

Why would I do that when you're still clearly a fucking idiot.

If Hayek happens to be a conservative it says nothing about Austrian economics.  In fact a lot of Austrians are Anarcho-Capitalists.

Why do you choose to have opinions about things you know damn well you don't understand?

 :rollin:  :rollin:  :rollin:  Another irrational response  that only proves who the idiot is.  :P     Solitary

[Sal1981]

Not from U.S., but I have to ask, why is lobbyism still legal?

If a politician in the Faroes was supported directly by industry and industry did deals under-the-table about what laws should be enacted, they wouldn't last a day after it would've been uncovered.

[josephpalazzo]

Not from U.S., but I have to ask, why is lobbyism still legal?

If a politician in the Faroes was supported directly by industry and industry did deals under-the-table about what laws should be enacted, they wouldn't last a day after it would've been uncovered.

There have been attempts to control the lobbying industry in the past. But all these attempts have failed, primarily because these lobbyists represent big corporations, the same entities that finance election campaigns. As as you probably know it takes hundreds of millions of dollars to get elected in the US ( just Obama and Romney spent together a total of $1.5 billions in 2012 election, not counting all the members of the House of Representative and Senate) . The politicians are not going to legislate against the hands that feed them. Basically, with the present state of affairs, the US is screwed as no reform on this issue is ever possible.

[billhilly]

the US is screwed as no reform on this issue is ever possible.

Yep, not a bug but a feature to the folks in charge.