If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These Are They

Re:If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These ... by liftbigweights on Thursday September 13, 2018 @04:16PM (#17982127)

The problem is that our growth ( the good times ) is fueled by debt. If the debt stops, then growth stops. Then politicians get blamed and we can't have that. So back to debt we go.

And it's not a partisan issues. Both democrats and republicans love debt, just like they love defense spending. It's politically expedient.

Obama increased the debt tremendously. And now Trump is doing the same. Our debt went from around $10 trillion to $21 trillion in 10 years.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEBTN

Think interest rates are going to increase much anytime soon? Yeah me neither.

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Re:If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These ... by NTDF9 on Thursday September 13, 2018 @04:19PM (#17982160)

What happens if there is too much debt (as assets) on the Fed's balance sheet? Can they just write them off?

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Re:If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These ... by mpax on Thursday September 13, 2018 @04:33PM (#17982276)

They can just sit there in perpetuality, there’s no swat team going to bust in the door because one leg of government lent to the other.

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Re:If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These ... by tabtab on Thursday September 13, 2018 @06:20PM (#17983192)

The biggest downside is that if there is a big slump, the gov't doesn't have spending money for a stimulus. We could then get stuck in a protracted rut or deflationary spiral. In the longer term, GDP growth can make the debt moot (if more is not added), but if we have a big slump sooner, we are screwed.

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Re:If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These ... by acct1771 on Friday September 14, 2018 @02:50PM (#17989809)

Calling the Federal Reserve an arm of the government is misleading at best.

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Re:If There Is Such a Thing as Economic ‘Good Times,’ These ... by NTDF9 on Thursday September 13, 2018 @05:20PM (#17982716)

Does that erode trust in currency and cause hyper inflation? I suspect no.

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