
A message to future post-apocalyptic historians on the debt ceiling - rberger
http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/17/a_message_to_future_post_apocalyptic_historians_on_the_debt_ceiling
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dgit
I didn't find his reasoning in favor of raising the ceiling very convincing.
It's just saying "these people are in favor too", and it's all the usual
suspects with vested interests. That doesn't make them wrong but just not very
convincing.

What does make not raising the ceiling very convincing is that it's called a
'ceiling' and it's not a ceiling if you raise if every couple of weeks as
seems to be the fashion, it's been put in place by wise men of the past to
keep repeating previous mistakes and Greece shows what happens if you don't
have a ceiling.

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teyc
For the people living outside of the states whether you raise the debt ceiling
or not is only an intellectual spectacle. If you live inside US, you better
thoroughly think it through.

From a historical standpoint, countries that default on their debt go through
a very tough time for decades.

For the US, the loss of prestige of the US dollar will signal the permanent
decline of the US in its ability influence the world in its favour. Large
sections of US industry is funded by military expenditure, and many of these
sectors face a decline and downturn. While on the other side, the US may find
a lot of countries building nuclear capability when the US is in such turmoil.

As noted, I don't live in the States but I live in a country that is friendly
towards the US, and I don't want harm to befall on your country.

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dgit
Both of these: > ... ability influence the world in its favour > ... military
expenditure ... face a decline and downturn

are not necessarily bad for people _inside_ the US either.

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teyc
Influence is like a rudder. Without a rudder, you are at the whim of the high
seas.

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IanDrake
Not raising the debt ceiling != default. I'm not sure why the talking heads
don't get that. Plus, at some point you have to ask, where does it end?

I have yet to meet anyone that was helped in the long term by maxing out yet
_another_ credit card. But I've met many people who've been helped by curbing
their spending and paying down debt.

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mikeash
If you want to cut the deficit, the answer is obvious: modify the budget. It
makes no sense to pass a budget saying you will spend X, which directly
implies borrowing Y, and then a few months later decide you will not authorize
that very borrowing you just authorized, and without any plan to deal with the
difference.

Where does it end? The answer to that is easy: it ends when a budget is passed
where revenue and spending are more balanced. Trying to take shortcuts by
playing games with the debt ceiling is a cheap trick that could be potentially
disastrous.

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bcheung
That article seemed more like an opinion piece. His "facts" consisted of "this
person said so" type of arguments. Nowhere did he offer any arguments based on
facts of reality. The entire article is based on hearsay. At no point in his
rambling, incoherent response was he even close to anything that could be
considered a rational thought.

What someone else says, especially when they have a special interest, is not
the same as the truth.

The banking industry makes money off of debt, of course they are encouraging
more of it. That doesn't mean it is good for the country or its people.

Research the facts for yourself instead of blindly believing what your banking
industrial complex overlords tell you.

