[ExI] Zuckerberg just bought 26 days of world peace?

Dan TheBookMan danust2012 at gmail.com
Sat Dec 5 22:19:31 UTC 2015


On Sat, Dec 5, 2015 at 3:44 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 5 December 2015 at 05:13, Dan TheBookMan  wrote:
> >
> https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/mark-zuckerberg-just-bought-26-days-of-world-peace-18305/
> >
> > I reckon it's true that avoiding taxes is buying peace -- denying the
> beast
> > some funding. Though I suspect the beast will find other means.
> >
>
> I doubt if this is correct for the US and other countries that operate
> on deficit financing.
> They already spend money they haven't got every month and just add it
> on to the national debt.
>
> Some people wonder how long this system can continue..........
>

There are limits -- very soft ones, apparently -- on deficit financing.
Actually, they can rely on taxation, borrowing (deficits), and inflation.
(At the extreme, they can rely on outright confiscation -- of non-money
goods and services -- but that's a rare occurrence -- unless you consider
forfeiture and eminent domain as examples. Still, those don't make a big
part of the budget of the US federal government.)

How long can this continue? If history is any guide, probably for a long,
long time. If the deficit gets too big, they can switch to taxes and
inflation, pay enough of it down and wait for it to be less of a public
concern, then switch back to deficits. This has been the history of the US
federal finance: switching between funding regimes that rely on one of
these three to another. I believe economist Roger Garrison covered this a
few years ago. Anyhow, no reason to think there's a natural end to this.
Yes, sure, it can collapse at any moment, but my guess is it won't for a
long time to come.

Regards,

Dan
  Sample my Kindle books via:
http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Ust/e/B00J6HPX8M/
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