Re:Study identifies reasons for soaring nuclear plant cost o...
by dragonwriter on Friday November 20, 2020 @11:04PM
(#25167798)
> The idea that it can give back less stuff but that is OK because it is a government is a foolish idea.
Anyone can pay back less real value if they have terms where the rate of interest is lower than the real rate of inflation.
Creditors of a government can mitigate the risk of that happening due to the policies of the debtor government by setting repayment terms other than in fiat currency of the debtor.
They often choose not to; heck, in the case of the US, it's happened that they choose to lend despite negative nominal rates, even before inflation.
That point could reasonably be interpreted as rather than taking in a dollar and paying back 50 cents, the US has the power to take in an hour of labour and pay back a half hour. And claim that it fulfilled the terms of the agreement.
That isn't an improvement. It is nothing more than muddying the waters enough it makes it hard to point out that the situation is no different from a default. Which I suppose is why they do it.
There is an amount of stuff in the world at this moment. The US either gives back more stuff than it borrowed, or less. The idea that it can give back less stuff but that is OK because it is a government is a foolish idea. Making it hard to understand who is getting what doesn't magically mean everyone is happy, it just means we only find out who is paying with benefit of hindsight.