Debt Default: Have we "defaulted" already?

Technically, no the U.S. has not defaulted on its debt already.

But seen in the longer run, the bigger picture, the global picture, yes we have defaulted already.
The U.S. currency as the world's currency has already been compromised, its reputation tarnished, and our government questioned by the global community.  And that undoubtedly will translate into billions and billions of higher interest rates for the U.S. government, taxpayers, corporations and individuals down the road.  

Not to mention oil eventually being detached from the dollar.  Not to mention the dollar vs euro.
It's all part of a steady slide downward for the United States as the world's dominant player, the U.S. unable to transition into the Knowledge Society quickly enough to remain the world's most successful economy.
Photo: Wildflowers outside our cabin up north this week. You really didn't need to see another picture of a dollar sign, did you?

 

Comments

[Pandora Charms]

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[moncler jackets]

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[penguin]

Exactamente! Pienso que es la idea excelente.

[D. P. Lubic]

As I see it, a big source of our problems can be attributed to a combination of factors that are working together to hold us back.

One is generational inertia; some of the most troublesome people in Washington and other leadership or authority positions are in their 70s, with the attitudes and outlooks of that generation. This same bunch was the group that would be chanting "USA No. 1!" or some variation, i.e., "This is still the best country in the world." Truth is, if you are the best, you don't have to say it--you just live it.

The definition of "best" isn't what it was back in 1950 or even 1970, and they don't get it.

This is combined with (or is a variation of) what the Japanese called "victory disease" in WW II. We've all heard stories about how people did so well in a career or in business, and they got cocky and forgot what they were really about. We were on top so long, we've forgotten what it took to get there, and what it really meant to go there.

In our case, we also have some very rich people with enough money to give them real power. These same people are aggressive almost to the point of being bullies, and they are also older, again with the attitude that what we had and were striving for back in the 1950s was the peak of human achievement. They can not see, or will not see. that the future isn't what it used to be--and they are powerful enough to frustrate those who see differently.

Now, we also have some younger people with these attitudes, but I think they are in the minority as a member of their population. What makes them powerful is that they got the backing of the old generation, sometimes through fear. I would consider your own governor to be of this sort, and as you have observed, he has managed to throw a monkey wrench into some good things you will need in future years.

I wish I had an answer, but I'm afraid I'm like the great majority of the people you cited recently in the creation of the auto industry--lots of vision (in my case for bringing back trains, and local trolley cars, too), put in a fair amount of work over years, but wasn't even lucky enough to find others willing to back the vision, much less actually being able to get something built.

What do you do when you have the vision, you even have the numbers to back up what you say, but you don't have the power to convince those who do have real power to even look at what you have to bring to the table?

Do you have to wait for enough of them to die first?

Do we have the time to wait for them to die first?