By MN Gordon
Style Over Substance
“May you live in interesting times,” says the ancient Chinese curse. No doubt about it, we live in interesting times. Hardly a day goes by that we’re not aghast and astounded by a series of grotesque caricatures of the world as at devolves towards vulgarity. Just this week, for instance, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters tweeted, “Get ready for impeachment.”
Well, Maxine Waters is obviously right – impeaching the president is an urgent task of the utmost importance. As everybody knows, he is best friends with Vladimir Putin, the shirtless barbarian who rules the Evil Russian Empire (they were seen drinking kompromat together in Moscow, a vile Russian liquor that reportedly tastes a bit like urine. Senator McCain has the details on that story). And as Maxine Waters has just disclosed, Putin’s armies are recently advancing into Korea! We cannot let this stand, or he’ll invade Kekistan next (note that he already controls Limpopo and Gabon). Who knows where it will end?
We assume this was directed at President Trump. But what Waters meant by this was sufficiently vague. There was no guidance as to how President Trump should be getting ready.
Should he pack his bags? Should he double knot his shoelaces? Should he say a prayer? Naturally, the specifics don’t matter in the darnedest. Rather, these days, it’s style over substance in just about everything. This is why Waters – a committed moron – rises to the top of class in the lost republic of the early 21st century.
At the same time, the individual has been displaced by the almighty aggregate. Economists pencil out the unemployment rate, with certain omissions, as if it represents something meaningful. Then lunkheads like Waters repeat it as if it’s the gospel truth.
Somehow, through all of this, our representatives are oblivious to what’s really going on; that the U.S. government is just months away from a possible default.
The Dutch Experience
Last week, via our friends at Zero Hedge, we came across as article by Simon Black of Sovereign Man titled, The U.S. Government Now Has Less Cash Than Google. Inside, Black details the invention of the government bond in 1517 Amsterdam and the long term ramifications for the Dutch government. Here we turn to Black for edification:
“It caught on slowly. But eventually government bonds became an extremely popular asset class. Secondary markets developed where people who owned bonds could sell them to other investors. Even simple coffee shops turned into financial exchanges where investors and traders would buy and sell bonds. In time, the government realized that its creditworthiness was paramount, and the Dutch developed a reputation as being a rock-solid bet.
“This practice caught on across the world. International markets developed. English investors bought French bonds. French investors bought Dutch bonds. Dutch investors bought American bonds. (By 1803, Dutch investors owned a full 25 percent of U.S. federal debt. By comparison, the Chinese own about 5.5 percent of U.S. debt today.)
“Throughout it all, debt levels kept rising. …read more
Source:: Acting Man
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