America can just print money

last SG · 2009-01-28T10:29:33+00:00

Who say Singapore cannot print money? Every country whose currency is "legal tender" can print money whimsically, it's called fiat currency.

AndrewPKYap SG

Recently I read in the newspaper than when America is in debt, they can simply just print out more money. America is 1 of the few countries who can simply just print out more money when they need it. Singapore cannot just print out more money when it is needed

Is this true?

If yes, how come america so special can keep on printing money when other countries like singapore cannot?

The simple answer is, America can do it because people will continue to hold on to US Dollars. If Singapore does it, people will flush the Singapore currency down the toilet.

People will continue to hold on to US dollars because they need it to buy, among other things, Crude Oil and they need US Dollars among other things, to do international business.

You should wake up sooner and realise that the USA is the world's superpower and Singapore under the PAP wil always be a coolie country.

AJ Witoslawski SG

Andrew, people will soon dump the USD when they realize how worthless it has become. China is already looking to replace the USD with the Yuan as a reserve currency while Arab nations are seeking to create their own unified reserve currency. Without China and Arab Petrodollars, the USD will become next to worthless.

Under the helm of PAP, Singapore has been an economic superpower, considering how little land and natural resources it has. Singapore has higher per capita GDP than the USA.

AndrewPKYap SG

Under the helm of PAP, Singapore has been an economic superpower, considering how little land and natural resources it has. Singapore has higher per capita GDP than the USA.

China can fall like the USSR anytime... nobody worth their money will trust a country (and its currency) that does not have a system to replace their governments, if a sicko (or senile cursed despot) comes into power.

PAP could do it because the British laid the foundations for 200 years but what the British had done, you can only "cash in" for a few decades and as you can see, it was obvious, from the late eighties, the PAP has damaged what the British did and we are now paying for it.

Let's just hope that Singapore does not need 200 years to repair the damge PAP has done (but if PAP remains in power... not only will there be no repairs, the damge will continue and become worse.)

mjallday SG

@AJ: SG is a economic superpower but it's mainly in financial services etc. these could easily dissapear overnight as they aren't tied down to country for any other reason than this is a central hub.

potentially malaysia could host the banks just as well as singapore

AJ Witoslawski SG

Let's just hope that Singapore does not need 200 years to repair the damge PAP has done (but if PAP remains in power... not only will there be no repairs, the damge will continue and become worse.)

If SG is strong because of Britain, why did SG experience large growth AFTER independence?

PAP is the true reason why Singaporeans are some of the wealthiest people in the world.

AJ Witoslawski SG

@AJ: SG is a economic superpower but it's mainly in financial services etc. these could easily dissapear overnight as they aren't tied down to country for any other reason than this is a central hub.

potentially malaysia could host the banks just as well as singapore

SG is a financial hub because of PAP's policies of economic and financial freedom, which are absent in Malaysia. Banks and financial institutions would not move to Malaysia because of the regulatory burdens there as well as the political and economic unstability.

Furthermore, one third of SG's economy is industry, so it is more than "just" a financial hub.

Stevenson101 SG

Think this should be moved to speaker's corner heh.

mjallday SG

Sorry, Malaysia was just an example (not neccersarily the best).

What I mean is there is nothing physical keeping these industries here. Any country can change their regulations and become a alternative. In practise it's not that easy as they need to gain corporations trust but it's not like a gold mine which is not physically possible to move.

maxtor SG

PAP is the true reason why Singaporeans are some of the wealthiest people in the world.

Really ? how many singaporeans are on the top 50, 100, 500 richest people in the world?

maurizio13 SG

Really ? how many singaporeans are on the top 50, 100, 500 richest people in the world?

Our benevolent dictator and his family members are in the list.

dumbdumb! SG

it's a bad strategy. become like banana notes

Beautiful951 SG

Monopoly can print as much as they want.

viewquek SG

Every country can print money but need to notify the world bank. The value of each currency is plague by the amount of gold the country had with the world bank. If any country want to print extra money they need to deposit more gold or devalue their currency value.

Every year allcountry will print new notes at the same time they will destroy old or damage notes. It is like a one to one exchange. Of course it is not only deposit that determine the currency value, it is more complex then that.

Meat Pao SG

Is this true?

If yes, how come america so special can keep on printing money when other countries like singapore cannot?

I think it is true.

I think it is because US dollars is used for international trade, and for reserves, while SG dollars is not used internationally.

For this reason, USA has a special advantage. It has the whole world to shoulder or absorb whatever thing it does.

zero747 SG

Is this true?

If yes, how come america so special can keep on printing money when other countries like singapore cannot?

Siao ar.Den USA sure will have hyper-inflatation if this happens.

the whole world will suffer liao.

Ice Dive SG

Is that still true ? I do not think its true so anymore for the part of depositing more gold to print extra money.

tranicide SG

We cannot print more money just to have, more money. The amount of notes floating around the market determines the strenght of our singapore dollar.

The more notes, the weaker our currency is. This is why printing of notes are controlled.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

fifteen SG

If they keep printing, next time we can use SGD1 exchange for USD2 =]

cyberr1981 SG

Actually, I was thinking… they can print money but they don’t tell anyone. That way, no one will know. And when no one knows, their currency won’t be weakened.

fudgester SG

Actually, I was thinking… they can print money but they don’t tell anyone. That way, no one will know. And when no one knows, their currency won’t be weakened.

You print more money, sooner or later its presence will be felt.

It's just like the OPEC cartel.... some of the members secretly try to beat production quotas and boost output to try to take advantage of the artificially-high prices.

It only works in the short run..... eventually, the supply of the extra oil will be felt, and oil prices get depressed as a result.

Same goes for money..... there's really no such thing as printing more money and not having its presence felt when the excess supply is released into the system.

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