Can the U.S. declare bankruptcy?

Discussion in 'Economics' started by kmiklas, Jun 4, 2021.

  1. piezoe

    piezoe

    This is not a reflection on you. You believe what most Americans believe. However the Economists who's area of expertise is Money Theory and Central Bank-Treasury operation would say that the U.S. can not go bankrupt in anything like the conventional sense, and it has no "National Debt".

    I am not an economist, but I have spent the past 11 years, or so, studying economics, and in particular money theory, and it is my personal opinion that these experts are correct. The evidence that they are correct seems overwhelming to me. However a great danger lies in discovering the truth about sovereign finances of a sovereign such as the United States, where the depth of sovereignty over the money issued is extraordinarily deep. One must resist the temptation to think that there are no constraints on the amount of money the sovereign can issue and spend into its economy.
     
    #31     Jun 4, 2021
    Nobert likes this.
  2. toc

    toc

    Far from bankruptcy..........Some where I read that average worth of top 1% in USA is $11M. This means of the 1.6M folks (households) the total collective net worth is $176 Trillion.
    https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles/

    Also, economies have performed just fine at debt to gdp ratios of upto 200%. In the case of US, this percentage is slightly over 100%.

    So financial doomsday is not happening anytime soon !!
     
    #32     Jun 5, 2021
    Nobert likes this.
  3. newwurldmn

    newwurldmn

    but he did more than his share to bankrupt America (financially and morally)
     
    #33     Jun 5, 2021
  4. Huge printing IS declaring bankruptcy.
     
    #34     Jun 5, 2021
  5. Well, making you feel better was the point, right? :)
     
    #35     Jun 5, 2021
  6. JSOP

    JSOP

    To be fair, America is pretty morally bankrupt before Trump (I assume you are talking about Trump) and America is no less morally bankrupt now under Biden/Harris. And financially, Trump actually added to the treasury coffer during his administration so it can hardly be said that he bankrupted America financially.

    And one more thing. Whether one is morally bankrupt or not is depend on each individual and nobody else.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2021
    #36     Jun 5, 2021
  7. 777

    777

    That is not how it works with the U.S.

    Barring outliers like nuclear war, we can always pay our debts by printing money, though that has the obvious strings. Our debts are structured by contract to be paid back in our currency.

    Many other countries such as Greece have their debt contracts stipulating they must pay in U.S. dollars so they may have to outright default.

    There have been time period where Greece was offering near thirty percent a year. Often the U.S. offers a few percent, or so. But Greece has periodically stiffed and has periodically been a high default risk.

    + If the day comes where the U.S. is not the world's default currency, forget about much of what I wrote.
     
    #37     Jun 5, 2021
    piezoe likes this.
  8. piezoe

    piezoe

    Off course he did, all Presidents do when they pay their income tax. Didn't Trump pay at least a couple hundred in income tax during his Presidency? I think I read that somewhere.

    One of my favorite all time Trump lies, and there are an endless number, occurred when he told is assembled, red-hatted minions that he wasn't taking a salary; he was donating it to the government! Of course the U.S. government does not qualify to receive donations. To this day no one really knows, except possibly the IRS and the New York County D.A., Cyrus Vance, what Trump did with his Presidential Salary, which was too high, even if it had been 10 cents.
     
    #38     Jun 5, 2021
    DiceAreCast likes this.
  9. JSOP

    JSOP

    Whatever, Trump is the best!! Yay Go Trump! LOL
     
    #39     Jun 5, 2021
  10. ph1l

    ph1l

    I'm not a Trump fan, but is this identity theft or another vast right-wing conspiracy?:)
    https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/...check/65-de8190fd-d0a2-4f35-90b1-5eb44026a3e2
    VERIFY: Yes, Trump has never taken a presidential paycheck
    [​IMG]
    Credit: AP
    Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, center, and Under Secretary for Policy Derek Kan, left, is presented with a $100,000 check by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders from President Donald Trump's quarterly salary donated to the Department of Transportation during the daily press briefing in the Brady press briefing room at the White House, in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
     
    #40     Jun 5, 2021