Debt And Its Forgiveness: The Morality

"Today, we take a look at the history and hysteria behind debt and debt forgiveness while Biden is canceling student debt and opponents of the idea are reacting in the most predictable way possible because they misunderstand the relationship between debt and morality."

Click on the link below for a podcast exploring this issue from a moral perspective:

The Morality of Debt and Forgiveness

Republicans Have A Correct Concern, But The Wrong Answers

The US national debt continues to get worse and neither political party nor many economists seem to treat it as the crisis it is. Traditionally, the Republican Party says that they are the fiscally responsible party but the image below belies that claim. With two wars going on and the US Congress (that controls the purse) deadlocked, it's more than time to shape up and get things in order financially. I have posted on this issue before but I thought that the article below presents data that emphasizes the crisis:

"According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) measure of central government debt, the U.S. federal government is among the most indebted governments in the world. As of 2021 (the latest available data), federal debt reached 115 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), ranking 16th highest out of 164 countries for which the IMF has data. Japan tops the ranking with central government debt of 221 percent of GDP, followed by Greece, Sudan, Eritrea, and Singapore. Not long ago, the U.S. was among the least indebted countries. In 2001, U.S. federal debt was 42 percent of GDP, lower than debt levels found in 100 other countries."

How America’s Debt Problem Compares to Other Countries—and Why It Matters

US Debt And Globalization

"It was 1917 when the United States had just joined World War I. With demands for military investment growing, the US Treasury Department was in desperate need of money. Without enough of its own, the Treasury Department had to borrow it from someone but was also constitutionally required to receive congressional approval to take on debt and make financial decisions. Rather than oversee every increasingly common request and transaction, Congress figured, 'Hey, let's give the Treasury Department power to oversee their own debt! But we have to limit that so we don't get ourselves in any trouble.' 

"Thus the debt ceiling was born. It was a means to allow the Treasury Department to get money, accrue debt, and invest in everything the government needed to invest in without requiring constant approval from Congress, while still allowing Congress to control the total amount of debt accrued."

Click on the link below for a better understanding of how debt works and how it helps to bind the world together:

Who is the US in Debt to?

Cryptocurrency Exposed

I have posted several times on the facts surrounding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Click on the link below for one of the clearest exposes of this vapid financial scheme:

Crypto Represents the “Golden Age of Fraud”

Inflation: What Is It And How To Tame It

"John Oliver discusses what causes inflation, what we’ve done about the current round of it, and, of course, makes the smartest investment of all time."

Click on the link below for a comical but enlightening view of a very serious problem that no one escapes:

Inflation: Last Week Tonight

If It's Sounds Too Good To Be True, - - -

"Why have NFTs captured the American imagination? What can the recent instability in the NFT market tell us about the history of speculative bubbles?

"Heather and Joanne put the NFT craze in context with other American financial booms & busts, from the Panic of 1792, to the 1890s Yukon Gold Rush, to the late 1990s dot-com bubble."

With the collapse of cryptocurrency and virtually all financial markets in the last few days, there is no better time to analyze the history of financial bubbles. Click on the link below for a podcast on the subject:

The Mirage of Money

Another Negative Regarding Cryptocurrency

"Many people of color believe that cryptocurrency is going free them from financial slavery. But I'm not sure it's the next underground railroad."

Anyone who follows my posts knows of my general skepticism of Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency. In addition to what I have previously said, there is a particularly negative impact on the low-income and racial minority communities. Click on the link below for details:

Cryptocurrency is not the financial promised land

What Is Money?

As humans evolved and began trading items with each other to complement what they could obtain and produce alone, the barter system was born. This evolved into the development of other items representing wealth that could be held and traded, with gold and silver becoming a major means of such. Gold and silver remained a predominant universal material to hold and trade regarding material wealth until around the 18th century.  Money continued to evolve with the printing of paper and minting of coins to represent gold and silver. In the USA, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 confiscated private gold and suspended the gold standard to allow the printing of money to fight the effects of the Great Depression. In 1971 under President Richard M Nixon, paper money became free from backing by gold (fiat money). Essentially, all paper money in the world today is this fiat money. 

Is this present system of money/currency good or bad. Since economics is one discipline in which honest people can disagree, there is much discussion of the matter. Click on the links below for a wide perspective on the subject:

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A Skeptical Look At Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency

 "What [bitcoins] lack is their own fundamental intrinsic value. You can’t do anything with a bitcoin, other than trade it for something you want. So, intrinsically, the bitcoin itself has no value. It only has value as a medium of exchange so long as people are willing to accept it." ~Peter Schiff

The links below are a representative sample of skeptical thought on a financial entity that reminds me of the Dutch Tulip Craze:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I4QMSFZjJQ&feature=share

https://nakamotoinstitute.org/the-skeptics/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/12/04/another-crypto-skeptic-suddenly-flips-to-bitcoin-but-adds-a-stark-warning/?sh=17a9013b5aac

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies/financial-firms-and-governments-deeply-sceptical-of-cryptocurrencies-survey-idUSKBN26K2IF

John Oliver in 2018

UPDATE: 5/23/2021: Paul Krugman

Let the buyer beware!!!  Following are links to information on one of the most prominent promoters of bitcoin: the promotion; the person behind it.