“No Way Out” of Debt Trap, Gross Says: U.S. Living Standards Doomed to Fall

[Winehole23]

Off topic, but tangentially related to the last few posts:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/fea...007.blake.html

[boutons_deux]

Off topic, but tangentially related to the last few posts:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/fea...007.blake.html

I read about this guy and his gadget several weeks ago. Insanity supreme.

The sick-care system really does want everybody to be diseased, and if the sick-care system can maim you with the treatments/side-effects, It's All Good. They don't make money from healthy people.

BigFood doesn't make money from lean, fit people.

The sicker you are, and/or the worse the treatment side-effects, the more money for them. They don't want to cure you, just keep you a little less chronically ed up so they can keep prescribing pills and treatments indefinitely.

[Agloco]

They don't want to cure you, just keep you a little less chronically ed up so they can keep prescribing pills and treatments indefinitely.

There's no money in a cure.

[Wild Cobra]

There's no money in a cure.

On top of that, if we extended people's lives to 125, how do we address retirement?

Two things are certain in life. Taxes and death. I find it real selfish that people want to burden others over their selfish fear of death, that will cone eventually anyway.

[RandomGuy]

RG, consider me a rank novice on this but wasn't China being accused of artificially devaluing their currency? (terminology is probably off but...)

What benefits are derived from that exactly? I've read something about keeping exports higher and imports cheaper? Is that the trade imbalance you're talking about? Or is it a "physical" thing as in, we're getting 1 and they're taking 2 of whatever?

Anyone who cares to comment, I'd appreciate some education on the topic.

Well it makes the goods produced in your country cheaper for other people to buy in other countries. They therefore buy more. It has the added effect of making imports to your country more expensive.

China used to have an "official" exchange rate of definite dollars to yuan/renmenbi, but have sinced loosed in a bit, and allowed it to float slightly.

The problem for China is that it has a massive trade imbalance, and is sucking in more and more euros and dollars.

This means that as time goes on, it becomes harder and harder to fight the market forces keeping your currency artificially low.

There is some debate as to whether the Chinese are really keeping the exchange rate artificially low, because they are experiencing some pretty steep rises in the costs of labor that are probably offsetting the trade imbalances.

The US, through its trade deficit, puts a LOT of dollars out there. As the supply of dollars goes up, that nominally should drive the "price" of those dollars down. Price being the exchange rates between currencies.

Hope this helps.

[RandomGuy]

Off topic, but tangentially related to the last few posts:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/fea...007.blake.html

that was long. And a bit depressing.

[Winehole23]

slightly relevant factoid: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8021QY20120103

[boutons_deux]

slightly relevant factoid: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8021QY20120103

"The self-styled "bond king," analysts say, is betting on the likelihood the Federal Reserve will also purchase those securities in a bid to boost the U.S. housing market."

much better would be massive expansion of what some banks are already doing: principal reductions for people very late or in foreclosure, so the banks avoid the expenses of owning the property (foreclosure fees, back taxes, taxes, insurance, maintenance, security...)