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posted by martyb on Friday June 14 2019, @11:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-end-is-near dept.

On our current trajectory, the report warns, "planetary and human systems [are] reaching a 'point of no return' by mid-century, in which the prospect of a largely uninhabitable Earth leads to the breakdown of nations and the international order."

The only way to avoid the risks of this scenario is what the report describes as "akin in scale to the World War II emergency mobilization"—but this time focused on rapidly building out a zero-emissions industrial system to set in train the restoration of a safe climate.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/597kpd/new-report-suggests-high-likelihood-of-human-civilization-coming-to-an-end-in-2050


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 15 2019, @12:03PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 15 2019, @12:03PM (#855962)

    How much of the US debt is social security obligations?
    I can tell you now they will be the last thing defaulted on, for two reasons.
    1. Default on the payouts and there is no way to keep collecting the inputs. They may not be enough to cover the payouts, but it is still a massive revenue stream.
    2. Because if they do default, politicians and bankers will be strung up from the trees. If you think the backlash that elected Trump was bad, if they default on SS it will be a shooting war.

    This is also the real reason they are panicking about low inflation. They are counting on inflation to erode the debts.
    - - - - - - - -
    And the more they keep complaining about the debt, the more likely people are to demand a full accounting of who is owed what. I expect at that point, there will be nationalisation of the Fed, and targeted erasure of international debts.
    Or the government might mint a few thousand coins with a face value of ten billion dollars each, and pay off the debts. After all, despite giving the right to print money to the 'international banker cartel' they did retain the power to mint coins.

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  • (Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday June 15 2019, @02:05PM

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 15 2019, @02:05PM (#855987) Journal

    This is also the real reason they are panicking about low inflation. They are counting on inflation to erode the debts.

    Inflation is theft from the middle and lower classes. And admittedly, deflation is worse.

    --
    В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday June 15 2019, @02:07PM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 15 2019, @02:07PM (#855988) Journal
    They haven't been strung up yet for inflation (meaning we already have a generation that's gotten away with it). You just have a limited understanding of how to default on such things.

    Further, you can't kill politicians to get back to prosperity. Once it's gone, with most of the responsible politicians long dead in the grave, it's just pointless thrashing and blaming.

    And the more they keep complaining about the debt, the more likely people are to demand a full accounting of who is owed what. I expect at that point, there will be nationalisation of the Fed, and targeted erasure of international debts.

    So what? Same goes for those people pulling on Social Security benefits. They had a long time to fix this.

    Or the government might mint a few thousand coins with a face value of ten billion dollars each, and pay off the debts. After all, despite giving the right to print money to the 'international banker cartel' they did retain the power to mint coins.

    Remember inflation is default by a different name.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 16 2019, @01:41AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 16 2019, @01:41AM (#856129)

      Normal inflation is the slow mitigation of debt by devaluing the amount owed, without actually decreasing the numerical amount. It mostly hits the middle class, who are the only ones with a significant portion of their wealth in cash, and the poor because wages always lag prices.
      If Trump decides to mint a few coins and use them to pay the debt, it will hit the 'banker cartel' who are currently owed those trillions of US debt. The screaming would be epic.

      In any case, the obvious answer to US debt is to nationalize the Federal Reserve Bank. There is no reason why the US should give all the money it prints to the international consortium of bankers who currently own the bank. At the very least they should revoke the Fed's right to print money, and return it to Treasury where it belongs.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 16 2019, @01:59AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 16 2019, @01:59AM (#856135)

        +1

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday June 17 2019, @03:13AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 17 2019, @03:13AM (#856469) Journal

        If Trump decides to mint a few coins and use them to pay the debt, it will hit the 'banker cartel' who are currently owed those trillions of US debt.

        And all those poor and middle class people who were dependent on dollars. At least the 'banker cartel' can move their assets out of dollar valued stuff.

        In any case, the obvious answer to US debt is to nationalize the Federal Reserve Bank.

        For what reason? You're already proposing hyperinflation of the dollar because you have this mistaken impression that a 'banker cartel' will get hurt worse than most US citizens.

        At the very least they should revoke the Fed's right to print money, and return it to Treasury where it belongs.

        Because that would make it easier for you to attack that 'banker cartel' via printing money? Sounds like a good reason not to "return" said "right" to the US Treasury.

  • (Score: 2) by toddestan on Sunday June 16 2019, @01:09AM

    by toddestan (4982) on Sunday June 16 2019, @01:09AM (#856112)

    The problem with inflation though is if inflation goes up, so does the interest rates, and if interest rates go up, the cost of servicing the debt goes up too. Look at how much servicing the debt costs today, and imagine what would happen if interest rates doubled. It would be a disaster. And historically, even if rates doubled, they wouldn't be that high (see: late 1970's - early 1980's).

    There are certainly those that want inflation to go up to inflate the debt away. But the forces that want the interest rates kept low are winning at the moment.