He would be committing one if despite having assets worth a
million dollars he owes two million to others.A ratio of 2:1 is
already quite a conservative estimation of the current
stituation.
And then this man continues to issue IOUs for his meat, his milk
and his gardener, basically giving the butcher, the farmer and the
gardener worthless pieces of paper for the services and products
they've given the man.
By issuing the IOUs, he bought up the resources of the baker,
his meat and his milk for essentially nothing and depriving a
honest working man of a gardener to tend to his garden. At the same
time he has contributed to inflating the market price by reducing
the supply available in the market and defrauded at least 4 other
men.
But because the bank still recognizes the man's IOU in spite of
his debts because he has been paying off the interest so far, so
the bank has to dip into the savings of the mechanic, the pensioner
and the IT person in order to pay off the baker, the butcher and
the farmer.
So yea, he commits a crime. However, this man has 11 carrier
groups and nuclear strike capabilities so the
baker, butcher and farmer can't really say no when the man
continues to pay for his goods with worthless paper.
Why am I not surprised at the above response to this post?
xtreyier, in this context, stevenson meant that the man buying
bread is a metaphor for the US. If it's the simple situation which
you described, then out of compassion, I wouldn't say its a
"crime". But who knows what the 'Law' would decide, especially
courts over here?
In his context, it is accurate to say that the US is, and has
been, committing fraud all these years for printing Fed notes to
fuel its overspending. Even though it has a total debt of $50+
trillion, because the USD is the reserve currency of the world and
oil is mostly traded in USD, countries have no choice but to accept
USD even if the US was in debt to them already. Having reserve
currency status allows the US to have a blank check for all its
expenses- military adventures etc.
Would you kindly explain what you mean by "conspiracy theories"?
I'm beginning to think that you don't know what the term refers to.
As far as is common knowledge, the US has 11 carrier strike groups
and the world's 2nd largest nuclear capability. Correct me if I'm
not referring to what you meant by "conspiracy theories".
Finally, as far as geopolitics is concerned, big sticks matter a
lot. Simple logic will tell you that against an heavily armed
opponent, you'll most likely capitulate.
