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News Link • Government Debt & Financing

Re-Set: Reversing The Debt-Debasement Death-Spiral

• https://www.zerohedge.com, by Charles Hugh Smith

The unspoken foundation of the US dollar debasement narrative is TINA: There Is No Alternative to debasing the USD to zero because reversing course by reversing the expansion of debt and the money supply (i.e. monetary inflation) are impossible in a debt-dependent economy.

Without a steady expansion of debt and a steady debasement of the dollar so debtors have an easier time paying existing debts, the economy would crash, and so doing more of what leads to collapse is the status quo "solution."

The second assumption of the US dollar debasement narrative is that those who own crypto, precious metals and other tangible assets will not just survive the eventual crisis but emerge wealthy, as the value of their assets is not dependent on fiat currencies.

This suggests the following thought experiment: since those holding the levers of power "know" the end-game of debasement is the collapse of the currency and the economy, and they "know" the economic devastation that this collapse will deliver not just to the majority but to the wealthy whose wealth ultimately depends on a functioning economy, wouldn't they consider pursuing a still-painful but less apocalyptic option that steers clear of the death-spiral?

Let's also consider that history hasn't been kind to governments that let their currency collapse. Those in power who "know" this would be wise to seek a way to escape the debasement death-spiral simply out of self-preservation, as their power would not survive the (entirely avoidable) destruction of the currency and economy.

Put another way: is there a way to escape the debasement death-spiral that actually re-sets the economy for legitimate advances in the quality of life after a painful excising of the fatal dependence on ever-soaring debt and debasement to prop up the illusion of "prosperity"?

There is a way to reverse the death-spiral, and the key for those in power is to distribute the unavoidable pain evenly enough that no one class reaches the point where they have nothing to lose in seeking to dismantle the entire status quo.

For the past 50 years, the status quo has slowly bled the bottom 80% while channeling all the gains to the top 10%. There were sufficient crumbs left by those feasting on capital gains to give the bottom 80% a reason to comply rather than revolt, but the pain of reversing debasement could make revolt more appealing than compliance.

Note that this redistribution was the result of policy decisions that benefited those reaping the gains of financialization and globalization. It was a choice, not fate.


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