What this Country Needs is a Helicopter Drop of Money

Perfect example of my point. You see the govt as the source of All Things. People buy stuff with money. The govt makes money. Therefore, the govt provides all things. But the actual origin of wealth.. the source of Where Stuff Comes From, is ignored. The lesson of history is that when a govt makes money, & it loses confidence & value from those who actually produce the necessities of life, runaway inflation destroys the currency, the economy, & the nation.

You also assume that 'money' is always in demand, & is always desired in exchange for goods or services. Ask the southerners toward the end of the civil war how much they wanted confederate currency. Ask the germans in the Weimar republic how great the deutschmark was. 'Money' is not a constant. Currencies have come & gone.. they have value when they are backed by the confidence of the issuer, but if that confidence begins to slip, the currency can come crashing down very quickly.

If all you have to do is print money to make a vibrant economy, why not print $1 million for every man, woman, & child in the entire world? Then everyone could buy plenty of stuff.. the poor in the 3rd world could have plenty to eat, live in mansions, & drive luxury cars. Poverty would end, instantly, if all that mattered was printing money. Can't you see the absurdity of that? Printing money does not equate with national production. You cannot 'declare' value.. not really. The American dollar has been coasting on fumes for decades.. it has inflated 10 fold in my lifetime, when any real basis for it was ended. The actual value of goods & services has pretty much remained constant.. it has been the 'devaluing' of the currency that has caused inflation, not the demand for the dollar. Oh, it is still the global currency, & it still has more demand than most other currencies, but unless steps are taken to stabilize it, & irresponsible manipulations of QEs, & other fiat juggling acts are ended, it will go the way of others in the past. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

 

This is terrible logic and absolutely nothing what I said. I simply said people buy things with money and the government creates money. Had nothing to do with "govt provides all things".

It's the 21st century. If your best examples are over 100 years ago, it's safe to say that we have learned from the past, lol.

Never said any of that. I simply made two factual statements. We pay for things with money and the government creates money. You have to do a lot of spinning to change that in to something that you're talking about, lol. And inflation is the trigger that controls our economy. We will continue to try to strive for inflation for the rest of mankind. It's not even a secret anymore. The Federal Reserve and countries all across the world state that their intent is to get inflation. And there is a logical reason to that, you'll just never understand it. You're a tin foiler. People that should not be voting.

 

Whatever you say. You can keep dropping 'helicopter loads of money' everywhere, but without actual production it will not improve the economy. You find it easy to insult people, but don't seem to grasp the basic concepts of production, currency, survival, & the role of collective institutions. This only confirms my observation that 'money' is the greatest mystery of the 21st century. Too many people think it is just declared, or printed out of thin air. There is no concept of production of goods & services. The basic attitude seems to be:

1. Money buys stuff.
2. We like stuff.
3. The govt makes money.
4. More money = more stuff
5. Therefore, the govt should print more money (and distribute it!) so we can buy more stuff.

It is perfectly logical, but very childish, because it does not take into account the value of money, how it originates, or where real wealth comes from. Money, by itself is a terrible commodity.. it does not increase the food supply, or purify water, or build houses, or bridges or defend the nation. It is a symbol of exchange, & only has value if there is confidence in the issuer. For you to assume eternal confidence in the dollar, just because it has been the world currency for a few decades is very naive. The world has existed beyond your lifetime, & events are constantly unfolding that cause nations to rise & fall. And no, we do not learn from the past, but are stuck in a cycle of doomed repetition.

Money shouldn't be mysterious, but it is shrouded in the Great Fiction, that govt can enable you to live off of everybody else, You can deflect with ad hominem, but you have not addressed the arguments or points i have refuted the OP with. Printing money & dumping it into the economy is NOT the solution. It is the problem.

 

That's the point of the helicopter drop. To create actual production. We have the largest productive capacity in the world yet we are stuck with high unemployment, underemployment, and low capacity utilization. One would logically come to the conclusion that we need more people spending money than people producing. Of course there is a concept of goods & services. Producing stuff can make you money that has already been created it cannot create money. You should read that sentence and try to think logically. Maybe a light bulb will go off.

You forgot when people "buy more stuff" people have to "produce more stuff".

It takes all that in to account. "Real wealth" is bought with money. Therefore money has to exist before "real wealth" is bought. And printing money is not increasing the food supply, but it can create a demand for more food which is met by an increase in the food supply. Come on man, your point of view is so illogical. You talk about the economy like it's magical and all it takes is someone building a house. Why do people build houses in America? For money. Not for your magic.

It's not mysterious. The only people making it mysterious are the anti-government loons that have to come up with all sorts of crazy theories as to how creating money is not important for an economy dependent on people exchanging money for goods and services. Your point of view isn't even logical.

 

He thinks inflation and hyperinflation are the same things

 

I will leave you guys to fly around dumping money from helicopters.. it is a perfect picture of the liberal solution for economics, & one of the clearest indicators that we as a nation are screwed. Hopefully, people will wake up from this fiscal insanity & realize that money is not just printed, or that the govt is not the solution for the economy, but is the problem. Unfortunately, too many govt worshippers, looters, & propagandists are controlling the megaphones, so the deception will likely continue until we collapse under a great orgy of dependency.

 

If it's not "printed", where does it come from? Please tell me you don't think "profits" create money. I've honestly heard that argument before from conservatives, which is mind boggling. Your logic is flawed. You really should just drop all your thinking of the economy and start over.

People have been talking about the collapse for centuries as we continue to grow larger than ever before. You'll be wrong for a long time!!

 

AK can correct this if it's factually incorrect but I think this illustrates the inflation.

Mortgage loans "create money" to lend out (and business loans as well). If they didn't do that we couldn't buy homes. Simply could not. So all that economic activity and all the activity that comes along with it would simply not happen. That would be a disaster. In the case of business loans, they allow production to happen. Without those loans and that creation of money...production would be stifled.

Before a loan is given out...the money that makes up that loan didn't exist. If you understand what I just said then you understand the need to create MORE money.

And guess what...as loans are paid back...money is taken out of circulation (destroyed). Now I could be wrong here...but that's what prevents the hyperinflation that conservatives are afraid of

 

You mean just like Japan?

 

Japan is doing fine, their standard of living has increased more than most developed countries. You honestly won't understand why though. You should stick with Hillary conspiracy theories. Economics really is too complicated for you.

Real GDP Per Capita

 

Your entire argument is based on the assumption that there is not enough money which is a fallacy.
A helicopter drop of money would be disastrous for the country as a whole because it does nothing to address the problem, and does everything to reinforce moral hazard.
The problem is not that there is not enough money, the problem is all the money is in the hands of the wealthy and not distributed on a more equal basis among all the people.
If you drop money from helicopters, within a very short period, the wealthy will have all that money too!
The problem is not that we do not have enough money, the problem is that the average American is an idiot and is not only incapable of handling their own finances, they are incapable of even knowing what is in their own best interest. The people have become domesticated farm animals who if set free could no longer fend for themselves. For that reason, the economy is now a system where the farm animals are cared for and only given enough money to pay their bills and entertain themselves. The majority of what they earn must be taken from them to create a system that will care for them when they screw up. As a result, the upper classes have lost respect for the lower classes and treat them with distain and contempt.
The American people have become self indulged material junkies who see money as just a means to their instant gratification. Giving them free money would have the same effect as giving money to a drug addict, it simply enables their capability to destroy themselves.

 

The old saying { Turn-of-the-Century } went :
" What this Country needs is a Really Good 5-cent Cigar ".
In 1908 there were no cigarettes to speak of,originating in France.
Widespread use wasn't until the 20th Century however. Cigars
were widely used and appreciated especially by Politicians.Some
C-Rations in WWII included accessory packs with stuff like a few
cigarettes and matches.
Could Cuba offer a good One Dollar cigar.Yes,they could.But that would mean
Castro and his Inveterate ways and his Brother would have to forgo any profits
from the cigar manufacturers in Cuba.And train ordinary Cubans in the art
of tobacco rolling.

 

Money HAS to backed by something quantifiable.Like an ability to repay.
That was the reasoning behind the *Gold Standard..But when the United States
no longer held the largest Gold Reserves { Foreign Central Banks combined did }
then it was not feasible,especially given Inflation.
What happened in Germany after WWI was that the Deutschmark became increasingly
worthless.Until Printing more was of no value.So they just stamped over existing
german currency with huge stamping of One Million,then One Billion Deutchemark.
Until the story reads that a woman goes into a german market with a big wicker
basket full of German currency.She puts down the basket to pick out some bread.
When she came back the wicker basket was gone.And there lay all those german bills.
They were essentially worthless.A more drastic read is the infamous situation that
befell Zimbabwe where eventually One Hundred Trillion Dollar Notes were printed.
These notes barely paid for a loaf of Bread.
Are you getting the drift.Or isn't that Brobdingnag enough.

* where each U.S. dollar is backed by gold.

 

Mortgage loans are backed with money. These loans are not composed of money "created out of thin air". In the case of banks, money from deposits are backing out going loans. A bank must have a good balance of in coming and outgoing funds. All loans are backed by something if we are talking about a business that wants to remain in business.

 

That's not true. Mortgage loans create deposits. Deposits are money. Banks are literally creating money out of thin air when they create a loan.

 

They also create a balancing asset on the bank's books, the deed to the property. So, in effect, the created money is worth something. Money printed to be spent on consumables is worthless.

 

Actually they are doing terrible. Your chart is from a Medical device consultant group.

 

The deed backing the mortgage has nothing to do with the fact money is created when they create a loan.

 

Magical trees where the gnomes live in the enchanted forest, on the far left just past the unicorns.

 

The chart is just a basic chart of real gdp per capita. Information you can find anywhere. And I'm not going to tell you what you're confused about. But just try to think of this... why is their standard of living increases (hint: per capita) if their gdp isn't? I'll give you a gold star if you can figure it out.

 

OOofffaaa!

 

Looks normal to me. I'd say they know what they're doing.

 

That would depend on whether your looking at a chart from an economics website or a kook blog like your source.

Maybe the New York Times can explain it better.

 

You can easily verify the real gdp per capita. You're still not understanding the difference. Why is their standard of living increasing but their overall production stagnant. Math would help you out here. And NYT is not a credible source for talking about economics, lol.

 

Here's an example

I own a business. My revenue is decent and it's increasing at about 40% a year. That's a phenomenal rate of growth as far as I'm concerned. The problem is that my profit margin is almost nonexistent. It's a long term investment from my perspective and all the "excess" money goes back into expanding the business.

Since my profit margin is low banks don't want to lend to me regardless of revenue and revenue growth.

If money was "being dropped out of a helicopter" I would be able to get the loan I need to buy the building I am in and expand tremendously. That would mean not only finally producing a profit...but adding JOBS.

I'd also be paying more taxes. But no...deficit hawks don't want growth