The trigger to our economic destruction: Default

[Sunshine]

Empires are destroyed by the rot from within.

EMPIRES ARE LOST IN AFGHANISTAN

 

[zzzz]

Did Rome perish because of Afghanistan? Did Alexander the greats empire? Did the Russian empire if the twentieth century? Although Afghanistan is a place where many empires have endured defeat it was not the underlying cause of their demise. The cliche "Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires" means that it is a quagmire that defies conquest. Why anyone would want to conquer that place is beyond me, it has nothing just opium fields and few trade routes. But back to the subject, empires are so powerful that their demise is cause by something within the empire itself, either a death of the leader or economic collapse or other means. Rarely is an empire destroyed by outside forces unless there is a mass gathering of allied forces like in WWII.

 

[Sallow]

and that warms your heart doesn't it?

I'm not on the side of the aisle that wants default.

I like living in an economic super power. Worked for the financial industry for 15 years.

Then I'm surprised. I used to think Default was a good idea till I saw the economic consequences.

The last "closure" of the government had some "unintended consequences" and that was small compared to what this would do.

The bond market would go nuts..because T-Bills values would drop. Interest rates would go up and the government would start getting charged penalties on some late payments. So the people saying we "spend to much" would be accruing a lot of debt by doing this.

It's frankly very surprising that anyone is flirting with this nonsense. (and yes..yes..Obama once voted against raising the debt ceiling..but it was in no trouble of not being raised)

 

[editec]

I believe that the threat of default is the leverage that the GOP is using to advance their vision of how this nation ought to be run.

I will remind you all of that old chess axiom:

THE THREAT IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE EXECUTION​

 

[Big Fitz]

I'm not on the side of the aisle that wants default.

I like living in an economic super power. Worked for the financial industry for 15 years.

Then I'm surprised. I used to think Default was a good idea till I saw the economic consequences.

The last "closure" of the government had some "unintended consequences" and that was small compared to what this would do.

The bond market would go nuts..because T-Bills values would drop. Interest rates would go up and the government would start getting charged penalties on some late payments. So the people saying we "spend to much" would be accruing a lot of debt by doing this.

It's frankly very surprising that anyone is flirting with this nonsense. (and yes..yes..Obama once voted against raising the debt ceiling..but it was in no trouble of not being raised)

We agree then on some basic points, but I do not think the markets are going to be as kind as you suspect because we have been an economic war for about a decade now. The opportunists will take every chance they get to dance on our stumbling gait to turn us into a corpse and food for whatever plans they have. Much like when the Rock Island went bankrupt in 1979, nobody wanted to take over a fully functional class 1 railroad, but all wanted it piecemeal

Much of the world is already looking to China, India and elsewhere to be the next economic superpowers. Maintaining this nation as one is no longer a priority for them.