Non-liberal Brunonians

<p>cops - why u suffering?? it will tk less won to buy the $ required to pay for your education, isnt it? So, unless your tution reserves are in a currency tht is appreciating against the $ (is there any??) u are better off...or am i missin somethin...</p>

<p>my dad is earning in dollars and has to convert now to Wons for everyday life. Its gonna be easier to send me to college though, but since we have to convert for daily life, prices have increased 30 percent</p>

<p>see guys, perfect example of how foreigners are paying for US deficit. sorry bout ur situation sp..but tell ur dad to hedge out his 18 mo. income using leaps, or else he is for more decline</p>

<p>foreigners will NOT continue to finance our debts, there will come time when they will not continue finance our debts and since the value of the dollar is based solely on the confidence in the us economy the value of the dollar will collapse. we are already seeing a slight decline in the value of the dollar, while this helps us exporters it does not help the economy as a whole.</p>

<p>i agree with you tht foreigners will NOT continue to finance US debts forever. Also, to further strengthen your arguments the 'slight' 30% drop in $ tht should have helped the exporters has actually not, coz even with cheaper $, foreigners still have cheaper goods.
But it is an interesting situation coz foreign countries, esp Asian (China, Japan, etc.) also dont have a choice of stopping to finance US debt. because if they do, US int rates go up, economy slows down and the US face another recession. Another recession means decreased consumer consumption of Chinese goods and Chinese economy stops...Chinese stops and other smaller asian economy stops...oh, the vicious cycle of globalization.
I dont have a response back to your post, but as you could see, i am also not 100% sold tht foreign countries have an option to NOT continue to finance US's debt</p>

<p>but going back to our main discussion, how do you all think the liberals would have handled the recession and 9/11 economic slowdown
(understanding tht both these events happened prematurely after the republicans were elected to the office in 2000 and much before the new President could have taken any preventive measures?)</p>

<p>I have only a cursory knowledge of economics, but thought the following was an interesting alternative point of view about the foreign financing of US debt. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the demographic or economic facts cited, but the predictions are interesting: </p>

<hr>

<p>You know -- the inescapable fact is that unless there is some
enormous change with the 1,000-year-old cultures of Japan and
Europe, these rapidly aging societies are going to be dead BROKE
by 2050 UNLESS they DOUBLE their purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds
during the next 20 years?</p>

<p>Yes, my bespectacled friend, there is a very sound reason why
demand for U.S. Treasury bonds is keeping rates flat while they
should be rising: the Gray Planet Wave.</p>

<p>Unless Japan and Europe -- which have pension plan systems that
promise to pay workers between 50% and 70% of their average wages
in retirements that can start as soon as age 55 (in Germany and
France, of course) -- sock away TRILLIONS of excess capital now,
their future economies are doomed to declining growth and fiscal
bankruptcy.</p>

<p>Think of it this way: According to all the leading demographic
studies, by 2050 the U.S. will have around 460 MILLION people, a
median age of 39 and another $80 trillion or so in wealth (which
added to our $86 trillion today, is a lot).</p>

<p>By 2050, Japan's population will have DROPPED to around 100
million, and Europe's population will have DROPPED to around 310
million. The median age in Japan in 2050 will be 53 and in Europe
it will be 51 -- i.e., more than half of the entire population of
these countries will be OLDER than 50.</p>

<p>With net public debt around 85% of GDP, and the last quarter
indicating that Japan is once again in recession (-0.5% GDP
growth) and the Eurozone dragging along at 1.5% GDP growth rate
and declining, I find bond prices the most rational aspect of the
world economy.</p>

<p>If you were charged with putting away the trillions of
dollars/yen/euros into the highest-return, ZERO-risk bonds that
will be required to be redeemed starting in 2025 to meet the HUGE
shortfalls in pension plan assets in Japan and Europe, which
country’s bonds would YOU buy?</p>

<p>Japan -- where bonds pay 1.5% and by 2025 will have 49 retirees
for every 100 workers?</p>

<p>Germany – where, by 2025, they will have 39 retirees for every
worker?</p>

<p>Or, the 10- and 30-year bonds of the U.S. -- where rates are
HIGHER than Japan or Europe, yet we have an economy (based on our
GROWING populations and demographics) that will have DOUBLED by
the time they start to cash in our bonds?</p>

<p>The Japanese and European societies create surplus national
savings because they HAVE to save so much of their income.</p>

<p>They are taking that surplus savings and investing it in the
only “sure thing” in the world based on the inalterable march of
our expanding demographics in contrast to the declining
demographics at home.</p>

<p>^^Socialism doesn't work 101</p>

<p>or.... here's why we don't care about anybody but republican fat cats who finance our campaigns. in other words, screw the future generations and spend like there's no tomorrow... savings, who needs savings when you've got another tax break for the rich headed your way(sarcastic)</p>

<p>Bush hinted at use of marijuana
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4282799.stm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4282799.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>yup, the us is truly a land of opportunities, where else could a drunk pothead get into those colleges(I admit he had tons of legacy) and then be an alcoholic until he was 40 then run companies into the ground and finally become elected president. If dubya can do it so can you, lets call out the village idiots to run for political office.</p>

<p>well...i would think tht by using pot...he also expressed how he can 'connect with the ppl' :) afterall, isnt it true tht over 55% of the americans have atleast tried pot once in their lifetime??</p>

<p>lol, so true. btw, I support full legalization</p>

<p>but, you still didnt comment on that dumb person known as bush</p>

<p>I support full legalization, too.</p>

<p>And no jokes about me being from Northern California! :p</p>

<p>"If dubya can do it so can you, lets call out the village idiots to run for political office."
"but, you still didnt comment on that dumb person known as bush"</p>

<p>sempitern555 - dont know if u were askin me to comment - but if you were, here are my comments-</p>

<p>I am an international student, who enjoys observing US politics and how it functions despite of all its idiosyncrasies. Personally, it is also disconcerting that the only superpower in the world is always obsessed with tactical politics focused on 4 year election cycles than strategic politics that can do more good than harm. The reason I am saying all these is because I do believe that Bush, no matter how much of an idiot he is, has the courage to take concrete strategic steps. Iraq, social security reforms, etc. might be painful in short term, but are surely going to bring positive (or less negative) results over a long term, much after Bush’s term expires. </p>

<p>Extreme liberals, who continue to oppose tax cuts etc., really need to understand how fiscal policies shape a nation’s economy, before protesting against it. People will always talk about jobs going overseas, Medicaid cost going up, unemployment increasing, household debts going up etc. and then blame Bush for it, and I believe that most of these people really don’t have much idea about the US’s economic structure and its resiliency. </p>

<p>Yes, he is a lumberjack, who walks funnily, but even after this 8 pages worth of debate, I continue to believe that he was the better of the two choices (second being Kerry). And of course, now that he admitted to smoking pot – he just became my favorite politican :)</p>

<p>I support full legalization around the globe...</p>

<p>well at least we can agree on full legalization</p>

<p>LOL that isn't good for the stereotype of Brown students, if you know what I mean... :cool:</p>

<p>calidan u are so funny, while I support full legalization, I personally lead a very abstemonious life, but yes, brown students often do partake in recreational activities, lol, the above post is so funny, I can't stop laughing</p>

<p>Hehehe... but it's so true! When I visited, I actually saw people smoking (not cigarettes)- and this was in the quad! Oh, those silly Bruonians.</p>

<p>BTW- I like the euphemism "recreational activities." Very appropriate.</p>

<p>Just wondering, who here does partake in that certain type of recreational activity? For statistical purposes only, of course. ;)</p>

<p>:D u guys funny...geez, i knew about the 'recreational activities' but in the quad??? wow....</p>