Comments by "Curious Crow" (@CuriousCrow-mp4cx) on "The US Literally Cannot Repay Its National Debt." video.

  1. Have you heard of a different framing of the US government debt that links its existence to Bretton Woods? Did you know that there has been a global shortage of USD for financing international trade ever since Bretton Woods? The gap between demand and supply for USD has existed since the end of World War II. The US government did not do anything to fill that gap. It was left to private investment banks in Britain and Europe to innovate, and create a capital market using USD left on deposit in Europe. And their customers were governments, multinationals, and other investment banks. At this time America was expanding it's economic reach, which would become the latest iteration of globalisation, and American banks and American multinationals turned to this offshore capital market to get around the US Government's own capital controls... They were put in place to prevent a run on Gold-backed USD leaving the US to pay for imports. As the US got over its economic slump in the Post-War period, it had gold from its allies on deposit, and instead of returning that gold, the US offered USD. Unfortunately, it still didn't fill the gap, and the Eurodollar Offshore Markets grew in size to provide financing via USD-demoninated loans. As the global economy grew, the US economy also grew. In the 50's the postwar boom, drove up consumer demand for imports. Instead of paying for those imports in USD, they were paid for using US Treasuries. They were were used as collateral for financing in the Eurodollar markets, and became a method of addressing the US trade deficit. You see, the value of the USD meant that countries which wanted to buy US goods, or commodities denomined in USD could use USTs to get hold of the USD needed. And since the USD became the global reserve currency, USTs themselves became valuable. That's why China and Japan bought lots, because they facilitated their trade policy. So USTs are a form of transferring USD to countries who then use them to buy USD. So the US government debt is just not supporting government spending. It's also supporting USD's position as the main global reserve currency. Moreover, it's reducing the costs of imports to the US economy and financing the expansion of American MNCs abroad. So, unless the US is forced relinquish the benefits of being the global reserve currency, Uncle Sam's debt isn't going to be paid off. It's too useful. So it might be tamed, but paid off? Nope.
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