Is lower dollar good/bad or indifferent?

Discussion in 'Economics' started by rateesquad, Jun 8, 2007.

Is dollar falling down a good or bad?

  1. Dollar falling down is Awesome!!!!

    9 vote(s)
    40.9%
  2. Dollar falling down is Horrible!!!

    13 vote(s)
    59.1%
  1. gnome

    gnome

    Just because the US Gummint is the BIGGEST liar, thief and financial criminal enterprise in the history of mankind doesn't make them "the good guys".
     
    #11     Jun 9, 2007
  2. gnome

    gnome

    Actually, since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. :(

    So long as the Dollar was redeemable in gold, the Gummint could be held accountable for its profligacy. Nixon cried, "SCREW THAT"!
     
    #12     Jun 9, 2007
  3. gnome

    gnome

    Isn't that a form of theft? What's good about that? Certainly isn't honorable.

    For a government policy to borrow money then "intentionally debase it's currency in order to pay the debt with worth-less money" is the same as saying, "if you were stupid enough to lend to us, you DESERVE to get f*cked!"
     
    #13     Jun 9, 2007
  4. I think the textbook example for debasing currency is Weimar Germany. How did that end up? Hitler coming to power fomenting hate and resentful Germans going to war against its former creditors.

    People extolling the virtues of a weak currency probably have never lived through hyperinflation.
     
    #14     Jun 9, 2007
  5. Well hyperinflation will be good for me...One I can pay of my student loans which I am increasing each year. Two, my parents will be able to pay off the remaining mortgage on the house faster. ALthough then we will talk about acquiring food and other necessities, which frankly will be impossible to get.

    I think there was a example of that in Zimbabwe. I street vender is selling his products to the public..after acquiring his money he rushes to the bank o exchange the Zimbabwe money to a dollar or a euro. If he is unable to get to the bank before 7pm, his stack of money reduces by half over night.

    Well, this will not happen in United States. I was reading the Currency Trader magazine (which can be acquire for free at their websites, monthly) and it stated that US economy is too big to be exploited in such a manner. Nevertheless, US will be able to pay off the debt quicker and will diminish its buying power of imported products. There is never an easy question to economics. That is why 70% of economists are wrong half of the time...surprisingly they still have a job:confused:.
     
    #15     Jun 9, 2007
  6. gnome

    gnome



    That's narrow, short-sighted thinking.... just like the Gummint.

    If "totally destroying the buying power of your money" is a bad thing, then why would it be a good thing to "partially destroy your money"?
     
    #16     Jun 9, 2007

  7. I was joking..sorry if my writting does not represent the humor r the sarcasm in it. Of course inflation is bad period...have you seen the price of gas this days better yet food. Although we only spend 11% of our incomes on food (the lowest of all nations) these trend tends t be over.

    My view is the lower the food cost the better the country will do.
     
    #17     Jun 9, 2007
  8. "too big to fail"

    famous last words. IMO

    You can't keep borrowing more and more forever. When the music finally begins to slow, then stop, it will be a hell for anyone dependent on it.
     
    #18     Jun 9, 2007

  9. Don't think that hyperinflation will be good for you. If you go back and look at the historical studies from the weimar era, it was the urban lower and professional middle classes that really got the stuffing knocked out of them. Farmers did OK, unionized labor and civil servants did semi-OK, as did the industrialists/capitalist types who had physical assets capable of production (since everyone wanted 'hard goods').

    While the early parts of hyperinflation wiped out mortgage debt (if it was paid off), from time to time the Weimar government 'adjusted' debts (not government, of course) to keep up with the inflation so that the banks weren't wiped out. Imagine what a disaster it would be if your monthly nut on your mortgage went up 10x but your income only went up 5x! And that happens again in 3 months! But by this point, you can't service your debt without real pain. And price-gouging laws prevented rents from being raised sufficiently to cover costs, which imploded the german real estate market (in contradistinction to expectations of a rise in real estate associated with inflation).

    It was the professional classes - the lawyers, doctors, dentists, teachers, who were completely devastated, by the way. Many of them turned to financial speculation to get by, and some became quite prosperous in the process (the Schieber).

    While I agree with your sources that an overnight Zimbabwe-style devaluation will never occur (barring a re-play of the Jericho TV series scenario in real life), because of steps that other central bankers can take to retard the dollar's fall (i.e. competitive currency revaluations), I'm not certain "it can't happen here."

    Just be smart. Get out of excessive debt.

    I would recommend Gerald Feldman's 'The Great Disorder' but be warned it is not a short read.
     
    #19     Jun 10, 2007
  10. the current US money supply is 13 trillion give or take.....

    the projected unfunded entitlement and budget deficits for the next 30 years are around 59 trillion if all goes well....

    so we need to print 46 trillion bucks just to meet the liabilities......

    I'll let you do the math.....

    ever guess why the Fed. doesn't report M3 anymore???
     
    #20     Jun 10, 2007