The United States government can borrow at negative yields out to 10 years. 1% out to 30. And the response to that? A downgrade, and both political parties freaking out about borrowing.
To twist the (stupid) expression common among politicians, if the US government were a household we would not have to live within our means, because other people are willing to pay us to take their money. And if we ever were faced with a situation in which we had to pay, we can always just create new dollars ex nihilo. Which only households with money trees in the backyard can do.
And yet we do nothing. Is there any historical analogue to this?
IPE @ UNC
IPE@UNC is a group blog maintained by faculty and graduate students in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The opinions expressed on these pages are our own, and have nothing to do with UNC.
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Sunday, August 14, 2011
Daily "Everything Is Screwy" Reminder
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