US government shutdown

VimFuego

mags is right, this is extremely unlikely to cause the US to default on it's debt mostly as they can continue to keep printing money (I note with interest that the fed us unaffected by this ). There is a strong possibility of a stock market crash occurring soon (several key indicators point to this, like the smart money is selling shares) but even that is unlikely to cause the US to default. However, the what will cause the US to default is actually something they can't either control or stop. If they stop printing money, then they'll run out of the stuff, if they don't stop printing then ultimately they will have so debased the value of the dollar that the foreign markets will deem it worthless, and they will start selling US debt which will force up the interest rate which will make the debt unsustainable.

Then you have to factor in someone like Japan, they are the 2nd biggest holder of US debt and are facing some interesting times ahead, mostly in the form of a population demographics time bomb. If they can't cut their debt to GDP ratio (the biggest in the world, we're 2nd) then they won't be able to afford the social security payments to their retired, which means they could be forced to sell large amounts of US debt to fund their deficit, if that happens it could well trigger a run on the dollar, which is pretty much a game over event.

The other possibility (which may be better for all of us in the long run) is if someone like the Chinese are able to set up an alternative global reserve currency, which could cause the dollar to collapse from lack of buyers, but there at least will be soft (ish) landing.

And then there's peak cheap oil and the effect that will have on the global economy, but that's a whole different thread altogether.

Fretwired

I have a plan .. I pressed Alt, Ctrl and Delete and shut down the USA.

I will now reboot the USA into safe mode with healthcare but without guns or nukes

Here's to a happier world ....

Oh shit ... blue screen of death ....

:-)

ICBM

Evilmags said:

I suspect the wrong colour bit is more about the fact he's too red.

lol... only in America could a well right of centre politician like Obama be described as a socialist.

Although given the nonsense about Miliband in the Wail, maybe we're going the same way.

holnrew

ICBM said:

Evilmags said:

I suspect the wrong colour bit is more about the fact he's too red.

lol... only in America could a well right of centre politician like Obama be described as a socialist.

Although given the nonsense about Miliband in the Wail, maybe we're going the same way.

No maybe about it...

Evilmags

Obama is the furthest left president in living memory. Mind you Bush also expanded the state and Clinton is the only one to actually cut the debt by running a surplus. Milibands dad was a communist, by his own admission, and his backstabbing son is a moron if he thinks price controls will work. My only issue with the Mail is that they supported the German version of socialism.

Sporky

Evilmags said:

Obama is the furthest left president in living memory.

That's a bit like describing someone as the driest litre of water in living memory.

If this was any other country, the US would be invading it on the pretence of reinstating democracy and stability.

Evilmags

I suspect most Americans will hardly notice the shutdown. Most services are not done at a federal level anyway. And the Repugnucans are right on the debt ceiling.

ICBM

Evilmags said:

Milibands dad was a communist, by his own admission

So was Michael Portillo's dad, more or less - at the very least a proper socialist - he supported Republic in the Spanish civil war, which is why he had to leave. No-one is accusing Portillo of being a socialist, I assume.

I don't like Miliband at all (and I detest his brother), but trying to smear him and his politics by taking his father's out of their historical context is gutter journalism at its worst.

(For what it's worth, despite disagreeing with almost everything he represented in the Tory party in the 80s, I actually quite like Portillo and respect him more than the Milibands...)

holnrew

Evilmags said:

Obama is the furthest left president in living memory. Mind you Bush also expanded the state and Clinton is the only one to actually cut the debt by running a surplus. Milibands dad was a communist, by his own admission, and his backstabbing son is a moron if he thinks price controls will work. My only issue with the Mail is that they supported the German version of socialism.

Jimmy Carter?

Obama is to the right Richard Nixon IMO.

Both Carter and Nixon are to blame for the rise of Neoliberalism. Carter by not offering a decent alternative, and Nixon ruined the image of traditional American conservatism.

chillidoggy

My dad was a carpenter, but that didn't mean I was any good at woodwork, far from it.

littlegreenman

fretmeister

The yanks don't even know the difference between Obamacare and The Affordable Care Act...

http://mashable.com/2013/10/01/obamacare-jimmy-kimmel/

Fretwired

littlegreenman said:

Looks like the vids been pulled .. what was it?

digitalscream

Fretwired said:

Looks like the vids been pulled .. what was it?

I suspect it was similar to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JinR6DiVDtQ

EDIT: I tell a lie. It's this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjZJkgXTIRU

littlegreenman

digitalscream said:

EDIT: I tell a lie. It's this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjZJkgXTIRU

Aye, that was the one

digitalscream

Jon Stewart's last point, for me, pretty much sums up the American political system. I like that guy.

Antique_Guitars

I hope it goes on for ages and the world economy collapses and some crazy shit happens!

Evilmags

The longer it goes on the better for the economy. Government is a very over rated concept