How soon until/Will day to day life in the US becomes like day to day life in Greece?

[Stinky The Clown]

Discuss.

[el_bryanto]

1. I don't think so

Greece has some specific problems that we don't. The Sequester is an embarrassing avoidable disaster, but our country isn't in the same hole Greece is.

That's sort of the point, actually. Republicans want to pretend we have to enact staunch austerity measures which will hurt our economy to avoid becoming Greece. But that's just not so.

Bryant

[Stinky The Clown]

5. You hit on exactly the issue with this phrase from your post:

Republicans want to pretend we have to enact staunch austerity measures which will hurt our economy

And the reality is the repubicans manage to get a lot of what they want and the Democrats all too often enable them.

How does that impact your expectations?

[el_bryanto]

7. I don't think things are as dire as that

If I believed that Republicans were going to get everything they want because democrats are weak, than, I'd think we were more likely to be an authoritarian, pro-capitalist state, rather than the corrupt chaos of Greece. It'd still be a step up (if a small one).

But I'm not sure that's necessarily the case. While I would like to see Obama and Congressional Democrats fighting a bit harder, it's possible they know stuff I don't.

Bryant

[Katashi_itto]

6. I agree. Problem with this "Greece Syndrome" anology is:

Greece doesnt control it's own currency. We do. We only have a debt because we choose to. Frankly having debt drives the economy.

If we don’t reduce the national debt, the US could default: This is the biggest fallacy of them all. Every penny of US debt is owed in a currency we are legally permitted to print. There is ZERO chance that we could be forced to default.

We may choose to do so (just as a person in a room full of food could choose to starve), but that would be foolish. Greece, on the other hand, could indeed default, since they owe their debt in a currency they don’t control (there are, incidentally, many other reasons why the US and Greece are not analogous, but this one is key).

If we don’t reduce the national debt, the US could default: This is the biggest fallacy of them all. Every penny of US debt is owed in a currency we are legally permitted to print. There is ZERO chance that we could be forced to default. We may choose to do so (just as a person in a room full of food could choose to starve), but that would be foolish. Greece, on the other hand, could indeed default, since they owe their debt in a currency they don’t control (there are, incidentally, many other reasons why the US and Greece are not analogous, but this one is key).

Now us turning into an Fascist Ayn Randian Hellhole...well thats a different story, but we won't turn into Greece.

[upaloopa]

2. Some of us will be hurt worse than others.

I think some are already on unpaid leave.

[ananda]

3. How about soon?

Austerity never works.

End of discussion.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Why ?

Thinking of stopping paying your taxes ?

[unblock]

8. almost any comparison to greece is completely ridiculous.

that doesn't preclude bad stuff happening to us, but our bad stuff will still be quite different from their bad stuff.

for what it's worth, i think "the" economy will continue to sloooowwly improve. the real problems are the long-term structural problems, which won't be a "crisis" for a few more decades.

[Recursion]

9. Greece can't print money. We can.

That's the entire problem for them.

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. The U.S. is to Greece as the federal budget is to your checking account. n/t

Last edited Tue Mar 5, 2013, 05:14 PM - Edit history (1)

[JDPriestly]

11. Do you mean that Greece is to the U.S. as your checking

account is to the federal budget?

Greece is smaller in every respect than the U.S., and our checking accounts are smaller than the federal government.

[Egalitarian Thug]

13. Oops. Thanks for correcting. n/t

[MineralMan]

12. Never. That's my answer.

The US is not Greece. It is unlike Greece in so many ways that any comparison is impossible.