I'm not sure if this sort of material is welcomed on here or not. I'll risk it but let me know if it's too OT.

Bealers wrote:


Hmmm. I value you posting it, very much, but (examines heart) I personally don't have 45 minutes to watch a Libertarian film on something. Or, indeed, anything. Would you care to summarise what the producers blame the crisis on, other than continual 100% consumerist greed blowing up in peoples' faces?

Cheers.

Hell why not? All the same, I'm not going to watch it either!

Bez wrote:


State-sponsored growth, as administered through monetary policy (that incidentally panders to consumerist greed, but that's just human nature..), has been used to re-inflate bubbles since the 2001 dotcom crash. The 'credit crunch' amounted to a global realisation that we couldn't afford the repayments on the debt we'd already racked up, so nobody was prepared to lend any more. Since then, 'stimulus' packages (huge injections of government-backed credit) have been introduced, along with low (negative real) interest rates in order to create more demand, by effectively making more money available at low cost. This money has been scooped up and dumped into stock markets etc creating a temporary illusion of recovery. Soon, there will be no more stimulus, just the bills presented by our excesses as a global society with little or no opportunity for the growth we'd need to cover the interest on our repayments. (I've spoken before about the special corner of hell reserved for governments that try to borrow when trapped in a low growth/high interest rate situation.)

Get ready for the big one. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Oh, and there's a rather attractive German lady who explains some of it. Kind of like that slightly severe teacher you had who hinted at lascivious depths and drove your hormonal teenage mind to states of frenzy. Marvellous!

I was just looking back at an old thread on similar matters and one of the common questions was who all this money is owed to. The short answer is we've collectively borrowed from our own future. The long answer is that the bulk of it is in government debt. Governments can only raise money through taxation. You figure it out from there. Think of it as a national credit card that we borrowed on when interest rates were low, but which may well end up crushing us under a balloning balance as the interest rate explodes. Those idle types who were around in the 70s will know what I'm talking about.

Thanks for the post, Bealers. Sleepy, you should consider getting your head out of the sand.

Bez wrote:


Hi,

Sure. Peak debt. Or, more eloquently, what snakebrain said.

Ah Snakey ,long time no see! nothing like an economics thread to get you 'up and at 'em' at 6 in the morning!

dogondoor wrote:

I too was delighted to wake up to that familiar Snakey blend of informed analysis, slight grumpiness and lasciviousness!

snakebrain wrote:


<Bez reschedules his day to find 45 minutes of free time>

Indeed, matters economic are enthralling. I for one remain fascinated by graphs, charts, tables, and the dazzling statistics, not to mention the latest I.M.F. policies...inflation, macro micro blah blah blah, 'tis enough to create a swelling in the y-fronts

I hasten to add that it is lovely to see you slithering in here again snakey, and I mean no disparagement towards your good self by poking fun at matters fiscal...