Nothing. It’d be funny if it wasn’t sad. The math isn’t mathing, the debt repayment is so high it’ll never be paid off normally
Plus you have private debt, which has also grown to an untenable level
There’s only three ways out of this historically. First, a jubilee… We just say fuck it, all debts are forgiven and we move forward. Second is a revolution where the new government doesn’t acknowledge the past debt
Finally, we have the option that’s actually going to happen, hyperinflation. Through devaluation of the currency, most debt will shrink until we get back to a manageable level and hopefully things stabilize
But dropping prices as well? Yeah, that’s just not happening. We could drop the prices of necessities through government intervention, but we’re going to have to take the socialism pill for that (which might happen, it’s looking appealing to more and more Americans these days)
But there’s no world where we both balance the budget and drop prices. Just a few years ago, we could’ve raised taxes and took a hatchet to defense spending and slowly worked it off while keeping inflation at a high but manageable level to whittle it down… But at this point, the debt is just too large
Nationalize the companies owned by the oiligarch(s) in question, maybe? I’ve no idea either but it seems like there has to be some option other than “throw up our hands and admit defeat”.
That wouldn’t do it… Might be a good idea for other reasons, but ultimately the money is tied up on paper. Maybe something like dismantling the stock market?
I think there’s plenty that can be done to improve life in our country, but paying off the debt without massive inflation? Just not realistic. The energy would be much better spent working towards goals with more direct impact on the quality of life
Oh, totally, but that’s like the final boss of capitalism.
We’re not nearly high enough level for that. We need to grind by actually passing legislation beyond the budget omnibus, get some public support and momentum with easy wins
Maybe start lining up dominos by fixing healthcare - that’d make the stock market go crazy. It’d be casus belli for regulating and reforming the stock market, that or the pop of the AI bubble. People will lose their minds over their retirement accounts plummeting, it’ll be a huge decision moment for the future of our country
That all being said, unmaking the stock market would be utterly transformative… It could either require hyperinflation or cause deflation depending on how it’s done, it could level inequality in one move or leave millions to starve
The one thing I’m confident it wouldn’t do is pay off our debts… But through definancializating the economy, it would probably make wages catch up enough not to matter
Nothing. It’d be funny if it wasn’t sad. The math isn’t mathing, the debt repayment is so high it’ll never be paid off normally
Plus you have private debt, which has also grown to an untenable level
There’s only three ways out of this historically. First, a jubilee… We just say fuck it, all debts are forgiven and we move forward. Second is a revolution where the new government doesn’t acknowledge the past debt
Finally, we have the option that’s actually going to happen, hyperinflation. Through devaluation of the currency, most debt will shrink until we get back to a manageable level and hopefully things stabilize
But dropping prices as well? Yeah, that’s just not happening. We could drop the prices of necessities through government intervention, but we’re going to have to take the socialism pill for that (which might happen, it’s looking appealing to more and more Americans these days)
But there’s no world where we both balance the budget and drop prices. Just a few years ago, we could’ve raised taxes and took a hatchet to defense spending and slowly worked it off while keeping inflation at a high but manageable level to whittle it down… But at this point, the debt is just too large
Tax the rich!!
The top 1% pay the the lowest tax rate
We’d need to seize their dragon hoards across borders and existing tax law be damned at this point
Which sounds like a good idea, but practically I have no idea how that could actually be done
Nationalize the companies owned by the oiligarch(s) in question, maybe? I’ve no idea either but it seems like there has to be some option other than “throw up our hands and admit defeat”.
That wouldn’t do it… Might be a good idea for other reasons, but ultimately the money is tied up on paper. Maybe something like dismantling the stock market?
I think there’s plenty that can be done to improve life in our country, but paying off the debt without massive inflation? Just not realistic. The energy would be much better spent working towards goals with more direct impact on the quality of life
Dismantling, or perhaps merely regulating the stock market would help a lot.
Oh, totally, but that’s like the final boss of capitalism.
We’re not nearly high enough level for that. We need to grind by actually passing legislation beyond the budget omnibus, get some public support and momentum with easy wins
Maybe start lining up dominos by fixing healthcare - that’d make the stock market go crazy. It’d be casus belli for regulating and reforming the stock market, that or the pop of the AI bubble. People will lose their minds over their retirement accounts plummeting, it’ll be a huge decision moment for the future of our country
That all being said, unmaking the stock market would be utterly transformative… It could either require hyperinflation or cause deflation depending on how it’s done, it could level inequality in one move or leave millions to starve
The one thing I’m confident it wouldn’t do is pay off our debts… But through definancializating the economy, it would probably make wages catch up enough not to matter