5 Things That Will Happen To You When America Goes Bankrupt

[jwoodie]

Name calling bespeaks emotional and intellectual immaturity.

 

[occupied]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

We are 18T in the hole and still running deficits. You don't think we will reach a debt level that US creditors will start to worry about being paid back and demand a much higher yield?

I have much more debt than my annual income, yet I am still considered well off

The US has untapped wealth and untapped revenue. Do you realize household wealth had gone up $26 trillion since 2010?

You do realize all that "wealth" can evaporate and it was created by the largest credit expansion in recorded history with nothing backing it?

Untapped revenue? My first thought it the Laffer curve.

America's capacity to create wealth can never drop to a level where the scenario in the OP happens.

What?

I was pretty clear, you want to explain why you think otherwise?

 

[rightwinger]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

We are 18T in the hole and still running deficits. You don't think we will reach a debt level that US creditors will start to worry about being paid back and demand a much higher yield?

I have much more debt than my annual income, yet I am still considered well off

The US has untapped wealth and untapped revenue. Do you realize household wealth had gone up $26 trillion since 2010?

You do realize all that "wealth" can evaporate and it was created by the largest credit expansion in recorded history with nothing backing it?

Untapped revenue? My first thought is the Laffer curve.

Oh yes...the rightwing laugher curve

 

[rightwinger]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

We are 18T in the hole and still running deficits. You don't think we will reach a debt level that US creditors will start to worry about being paid back and demand a much higher yield?

I have much more debt than my annual income, yet I am still considered well off

The US has untapped wealth and untapped revenue. Do you realize household wealth had gone up $26 trillion since 2010?

You do realize all that "wealth" can evaporate and it was created by the largest credit expansion in recorded history with nothing backing it?

Untapped revenue? My first thought it the Laffer curve.

America's capacity to create wealth can never drop to a level where the scenario in the OP happens.

We maintain one of the lowest tax rates in our history
Doesnt seem we are overly concerned with our debt

 

[bripat9643]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, that's what people in a lot of countries that went bankrupt thought.

 

[deltex1]

1) Your life savings could be reduced to nothing almost overnight. Inflation is a fact of life. Thomas Sowell has noted, “As of 1998, a $100 bill would not buy as much as a $20 bill would buy in the 1960’s.” That’s under normal circumstances.

However, the thing governments have traditionally done when they simply can’t pay their debts is print more money. The problem with this is the further you expand the money supply, the less the money you already have on hand is worth. This can wipe out the savings of a lifetime in a relatively short period. Imagine spending billions of dollars just to buy a loaf of bread. Sound far-fetched? Well, guess what? That has happened in the Weimar Republic, which was crushed under debts from WWI and decided to pay it off by printing more money. It could happen here, too, and all the money you’ve scrimped and saved could become worthless in a short order.
2) Your taxes will skyrocket. We’ve been conned into thinking that we can fund a massive government on the backs of the rich. This is simply not so. It’s not working today and it’s not going to happen in the future. We cannot tax the rich enough to pay off our debt or even enough to keep the government going long-term. Even if we could, the rich have the resources to flee the country for greener pastures if they’re being taxed into oblivion. The middle class? Not so much.

What that means is the more desperate the government gets, the more the average American is going to be hammered with new taxes. How much more of your income can you afford to send overseas to pay China for the money they’ve loaned us to keep PBS, Planned Parenthood, and the National Endowment of the Arts going? What about if the country goes bankrupt and your income tax rate shoots up to fifty percent? How are you going to pay your mortgage? How are you going to feed your kids? When the government runs out of cash and it can’t borrow any more money, then it will start leveling massive taxes on the American people.

3) Your life could be in danger. If the government goes bankrupt, you’ll have an extremely angry, confused, and frustrated populace that has little faith in its leaders — combined with a horrific economy and a reduced ability of the government to keep order. Under those circumstances, widespread rioting and violent crime seem entirely plausible.

When Argentina had its crisis, violence went up 142% and “young men began looting supermarkets.”

Here’s some of what happened during the German hyperinflation of the currency in Weimar Republic after it started printing money night and day,

The flight from currency that had begun with the buying of diamonds, gold, country houses, and antiques now extended to minor and almost useless items — bric-a-brac, soap, hairpins. The law-abiding country crumbled into petty thievery. Copper pipes and brass armatures weren’t safe. Gasoline was siphoned from cars. People bought things they didn’t need and used them to barter — a pair of shoes for a shirt, some crockery for coffee. Berlin had a “witches’ Sabbath” atmosphere. Prostitutes of both sexes roamed the streets. Cocaine was the fashionable drug.

4) Your payments from the government will dramatically decrease or stop altogether. Contrary to what some people believe, Medicare and Social Security are paid out of the same fund that pays for everything else. In other words, if the government goes bankrupt, there is no money set aside to pay for these programs. So, if you’re receiving Social Security, Medicare, welfare, food stamps, or any other similar programs, those checks could stop or be slashed down to nothing. That seems unthinkable to people, but if the government doesn’t have any money, then it can’t pay it out to people. As they say, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip.”

5) You will have a dramatically reduced standard of living. If taxes and inflation escalate dramatically, both of which are very likely if we go bankrupt, economic activity will slow to a crawl and we’ll go into a depression. We’re not talking about a “This is the worst economy since the Depression” situation that we hear every time there’s a mild downturn in the economy; we’re talking about a REAL depression. Businesses will close left and right, the stock market will tank, unemployment will soar to heights not seen since the thirties, and the government won’t be in a position to help very much.

If that happens in a country like America, where people have been so prosperous for so long, it’s going to produce utter misery. It’s not a lot of fun to be poor under the best of circumstances, but it’s much worse to go from having a comfortable life with a bright future to growing vegetables to eat in the backyard and wondering how you’re going to keep warm in the winter.

I already grow veggies in the garden, and could easily get by without heat or cooling...one of the benefits of living in Texas. I do need to stock up on scotch though.

 

[Richard-H]

The only real possibility of the U.S. government going "bankrupt " is if congress refused to raise the debt ceiling and the President took no action to reconcile that.

Near-zero real GDP could also cause a massive economic collapse, but that's not likely.

The fact that the U.S. government currency is the world's currency reserve means that the economics of the U.S. government are very, very different than the economics of any other institution that exists. Comparing the U.S. government to post-WWI Germany is silly.

 

[rightwinger]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, that's what people in a lot of countries that went bankrupt thought.

Do tell

Give us some names and lets compare

 

[suplex3000]

The only real possibility of the U.S. government going "bankrupt " is if congress refused to raise the debt ceiling and the President took no action to reconcile that.

Near-zero real GDP could also cause a massive economic collapse, but that's not likely.

The fact that the U.S. government currency is the world's currency reserve means that the economics of the U.S. government are very, very different than the economics of any other institution that exists. Comparing the U.S. government to post-WWI Germany is silly.

You do believe in America, bro. It's good. So, and what about 18 trillion debt? Should America repay all the creditors? If yes, how? If no, just imagine that somebody owes you 18 thousand dollars.

 

[bripat9643]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, that's what people in a lot of countries that went bankrupt thought.

Do tell

Give us some names and lets compare

Germany, 1923.
Argentina 1975 to 1991
Zimbabwe 2004 - 2006

 

[Syriusly]

1) Your life savings could be reduced to nothing almost overnight. Inflation is a fact of life. Thomas Sowell has noted, “As of 1998, a $100 bill would not buy as much as a $20 bill would buy in the 1960’s.” That’s under normal circumstances.

However, the thing governments have traditionally done when they simply can’t pay their debts is print more money. The problem with this is the further you expand the money supply, the less the money you already have on hand is worth. This can wipe out the savings of a lifetime in a relatively short period. Imagine spending billions of dollars just to buy a loaf of bread. Sound far-fetched? Well, guess what? That has happened in the Weimar Republic, which was crushed under debts from WWI and decided to pay it off by printing more money. It could happen here, too, and all the money you’ve scrimped and saved could become worthless in a short order.
2) Your taxes will skyrocket. We’ve been conned into thinking that we can fund a massive government on the backs of the rich. This is simply not so. It’s not working today and it’s not going to happen in the future. We cannot tax the rich enough to pay off our debt or even enough to keep the government going long-term. Even if we could, the rich have the resources to flee the country for greener pastures if they’re being taxed into oblivion. The middle class? Not so much.

What that means is the more desperate the government gets, the more the average American is going to be hammered with new taxes. How much more of your income can you afford to send overseas to pay China for the money they’ve loaned us to keep PBS, Planned Parenthood, and the National Endowment of the Arts going? What about if the country goes bankrupt and your income tax rate shoots up to fifty percent? How are you going to pay your mortgage? How are you going to feed your kids? When the government runs out of cash and it can’t borrow any more money, then it will start leveling massive taxes on the American people.

3) Your life could be in danger. If the government goes bankrupt, you’ll have an extremely angry, confused, and frustrated populace that has little faith in its leaders — combined with a horrific economy and a reduced ability of the government to keep order. Under those circumstances, widespread rioting and violent crime seem entirely plausible.

When Argentina had its crisis, violence went up 142% and “young men began looting supermarkets.”

Here’s some of what happened during the German hyperinflation of the currency in Weimar Republic after it started printing money night and day,

The flight from currency that had begun with the buying of diamonds, gold, country houses, and antiques now extended to minor and almost useless items — bric-a-brac, soap, hairpins. The law-abiding country crumbled into petty thievery. Copper pipes and brass armatures weren’t safe. Gasoline was siphoned from cars. People bought things they didn’t need and used them to barter — a pair of shoes for a shirt, some crockery for coffee. Berlin had a “witches’ Sabbath” atmosphere. Prostitutes of both sexes roamed the streets. Cocaine was the fashionable drug.

4) Your payments from the government will dramatically decrease or stop altogether. Contrary to what some people believe, Medicare and Social Security are paid out of the same fund that pays for everything else. In other words, if the government goes bankrupt, there is no money set aside to pay for these programs. So, if you’re receiving Social Security, Medicare, welfare, food stamps, or any other similar programs, those checks could stop or be slashed down to nothing. That seems unthinkable to people, but if the government doesn’t have any money, then it can’t pay it out to people. As they say, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip.”

5) You will have a dramatically reduced standard of living. If taxes and inflation escalate dramatically, both of which are very likely if we go bankrupt, economic activity will slow to a crawl and we’ll go into a depression. We’re not talking about a “This is the worst economy since the Depression” situation that we hear every time there’s a mild downturn in the economy; we’re talking about a REAL depression. Businesses will close left and right, the stock market will tank, unemployment will soar to heights not seen since the thirties, and the government won’t be in a position to help very much.

If that happens in a country like America, where people have been so prosperous for so long, it’s going to produce utter misery. It’s not a lot of fun to be poor under the best of circumstances, but it’s much worse to go from having a comfortable life with a bright future to growing vegetables to eat in the backyard and wondering how you’re going to keep warm in the winter.

the sky is falling the sky is falling!

 

[rightwinger]

Good thing there is no chance of us going bankrupt

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, that's what people in a lot of countries that went bankrupt thought.

Do tell

Give us some names and lets compare

Germany, 1923.
Argentina 1975 to 1991
Zimbabwe 2004 - 2006

Interesting choices
So now conservatives claim the US is on the same economic footing as Post WWI Germany and Zimbabwe?

Do you guys EVER tire of exhibiting your stupidity?