1906: Bridging the Gap

[dannyhatch]

with Zach Sherwin

www.twitter.com/ZachSherwin


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[flerchin]

This bridge thing is likely to fade from memory well before 2016. Christie will still be a centrist Republican from New Jersey though. I'm not so sure that the GOP would nominate him.

[JSZilla]

Originally Posted by flerchin

This bridge thing is likely to fade from memory well before 2016. Christie will still be a centrist Republican from New Jersey though. I'm not so sure that the GOP would nominate him.

A lot of those guys (Republicans) down here in Hicklandopolis, greatly dislike him for that very reason. So much so that they say he is a liberal.

[Enunciated Piffle]

Anyone who likes good documentaries should watch this. It's by Vice, (an alternative news media) and shows how sad life is in N. Korea. Their people are starving. They have no economy due to isolation. The leader Kim Jun is treated as a God. Any dissent is dealt with torture, death, or worse: slave work camps in Russia. It's 24 hr propaganda.

Meanwhile, (just across the border) Samsung is producing flat screens and cell phones that are putting South Korea on the map.

I can't believe developed countries aren't getting involved. It could be because it's so close to Russia. Maybe because they have no resources to offer, (like Middle Eastern oil) but it's really sad.

[Sparrow]

we don't want to piss off China. we owe them money. they don't want the deluge of refugees.

so, we've been letting this legacy 50 years in the making slide:
The Hidden Gulag

i don't think history will look on us kindly.

[DaveNJ]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

we don't want to piss off China. we owe them money. they don't want the deluge of refugees.

so, we've been letting this legacy 50 years in the making slide:
The Hidden Gulag

i don't think history will look on us kindly.

Whenever people say we owe China money, they treat China like a credit card company that's going to call us at every hour and repo our stuff.

National debt is nothing like that, and it has very little influence on this kind of foreign policy. The reason China buys US debt is to suppress the value of its own currency against the dollar and, in so doing, make their exports cheaper by US standards.

Which is to say that China holds US debt for precisely the opposite reason of holding it over our heads. It's an economic tool, not a geopolitical one.

The real issue with dealing with North Korea is that there's actually not a whole lot of benefit to overthrowing the current regime, and doing so would be really difficult. Inertia in this case is way easier and cheaper than doing something, and we have other priorities.

[Enunciated Piffle]

Originally Posted by DaveNJ

Whenever people say we owe China money, they treat China like a credit card company that's going to call us at every hour and repo our stuff.

National debt is nothing like that, and it has very little influence on this kind of foreign policy. .

Disagree. Here's why in one word. WALMART. '

America owes China money it can't possibly pay. So China says ok. You don't need to make a payment, but let's lower embargo prices. It creates an advantage for Chinese foreign goods. Why the fuck do you think EVERYTHING in America is from China?

When people complain that China owns America; they're technically correct.

[DaveNJ]

Originally Posted by Enunciated Piffle

Disagree. Here's why in one word. WALMART. '

America owes China money it can't possibly pay. So China says ok. You don't need to make a payment, but let's lower embargo prices. It creates an advantage for Chinese foreign goods. Why the fuck do you think EVERYTHING in America is from China?

When people complain that China owns America; they're technically correct.

What do you think an embargo is, and why do you think we have an embargo with China?

We don't.

As for not being able to pay, the US has not missed a debt service payment, so your statement there is just flat-out bullshit. Moreover, the portion of the US's debt owed to China is a fraction of our overall debt (less than 10%). The vast majority of US debt is owed to the US itself.

China does not own the US. China owns a relatively small piece of US debt to keep the renminbi artificially low in comparison to the dollar, which does make the cost of producing cheap stuff for Walmart in China competitive. That's currency manipulation, though, not ownership.

The formula isn't "let us make stuff for Walmart or else you won't be able to rent an apartment". National debt isn't like that. Instead, China buys US debt to make sure that the value of the dollar is high enough that it makes sense to build stuff there at low wages (compared to the US) and then send it to the US rather than just make it in the US.

Seriously, what the heck are you even saying?

[Enunciated Piffle]

The money owed China influences policy and trade. The evidence is the availability/ abundance of Chinese goods in this country. Countries are manipulated via debt.

You make an interesting point about inflation. I know nothing about economics so I appreciate you pointing it out. I'm going to research that.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by DaveNJ

The real issue with dealing with North Korea is that there's actually not a whole lot of benefit to overthrowing the current regime, and doing so would be really difficult. Inertia in this case is way easier and cheaper than doing something, and we have other priorities.

mhm. this is the part we're gonna get our asses handed to us by next century's young folk. at least WWII had a nice, identifiable, militarized enemy and a victorious human rights sugar coating. we're foregoing that little bit of historical entitlement to drone the crap out of our allies.