interesting article found on Coinflation.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3036

Draw your own conclusions.

 

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Not coinflation.com

 

Well, I have drawn my own conclusions - ones you might not appreciate.:headbang:

Regardless, the pockets are full and the hole is deep. Now, I can take a good deep breathe, and relax over coins. :thumb: I wish the article would have commented on bullion, or did I miss that?

 

Uhm... I'm new around here and don't know specifically the rules about politics, so will tread carefully.
I will take it back into history which is safer? One thing that came to mind when reading this, (whether we want to blame this one or that one) is the connection between inflation/hyperinflation and unfunded war debts, wars that nobody wanted to raise taxes to pay for. Weimar for instance. Or Alexander Hamilton's reasoning about why some sort of national banking system was necessary--that is, to fund wars you basically need debt. Apparently what people don't like to hear is--we're going to fight a really big war so we're raising all your taxes... All the way back to Rome where increasingly unprofitable military expansion seems to have been connected to increasingly debased coinage. So there: I have arrived back at coins.

 

I would conclude the following:

1. If the government admits the deficits are going to be $1trillion per year going forward, they are likely to be worse, perhaps double.

2. Whatever the budget deficit is, the total deficit will be worse because of all of the off-budget spending.

3. It probably isn't possible for the government to borrow $1trillion+ every year from now on because the world doesn't have enough saving to lend.

4. It isn't possible to balance the budget through cuts, and it isn't possible to balance it through tax increases.

5. The most probable outcome is long term severe economic hardship, which will probably worsen fairly suddenly and without warning.

6. Both political parties know this, hence the rush to push the blame on the other guy. They know that bad things frequently happen to political figures throughout history who preside over national collapse.

I hope I'm wrong. I think I'm right.

 

What a bunch of liberal spin/crap! ...and I'm an "Evan Bayh" Conservative Democrat

 

Wow.. just wow. There's no bias there at all... wink wink

 

What ever the government tries to feed us, The only thing i look at is
My own personal situation thats how i gauge the economy !!

 

Spoken like a true Re...err umm...coin enthusiast!

 

Alright, now another interesting article on Coinflation.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/01/cu...bury-stein.html?boxes=opinionschannellighttop

I'm thinking if cutting workers pay by 10% has a protracted affect, lasting years and years....I'd think a tax cut would also have a protracted affect, lasting years and years. The underlying idea behind both articles is the same.

 

Even with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military accounts for only about a quarter of total spending. Go back to the drawing boards on that theory.

 

"For the 2010 fiscal year, the president's base budget of the Department of Defense rose to $533.8 billion. Adding spending on "overseas contingency operations" brings the sum to $663.8 billion.[1][2] When the budget was signed into law on October 28, 2009 the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than Obama had requested. [3][4] Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expected an additional supplemental spending bill, possibly in the range of $40–50 billion, by the Spring of 2010 in order to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [5]Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $216 billion and $361 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $880 billion and $1.03 trillion in fiscal year 2010.[6]"

Only?

 

I'm looking at overall spending. Keep in mind that what is voted on and signed by the President each year do not include spending on social programs such as medicare/medicaid, social security, welfare entitlements or interest to service debt. Factor in these and you'll see that defense spending becomes dwarfed.

 

The point is you can't use the word "only" when speaking about $1trillion. I'm not sure that people understand exactly how large that is. I guess that's why we're in deep trouble. :rolling:

 

Very true. It boggles me so much that I'm thinking my math went horribly wrong somewhere, but by my calculations a trillion dollars worth of pennies would stretch from here to the sun!

 

I'd say we should cut out the fraud, waste & abuse of medicare & other programs first... then look at the military & other programs.

 

When I saw the title of this thread I thought for sure it was going to be about this article . Not a rant about the sorry state of affairs etc.etc.etc... This is Coin Talk people. We come here to forget about that stuff and think about our coins. Let the rant continue.:whistle:

 

Well, this is the bullion investing part of the forum.....so sometimes it is good just to reflect on why we are investing in bullion in the first place. I think the sorry state of affairs is a prime one of them. Think of it this way....if we didn't talk about this on a bullion investing area, what would we talk about in bullion investing, besides where to find a good deal.
BTW, the link you have about taxes is interesting. I not too worried about it, though, because the limit is $20,000 and anyone making that kind of sales/profits should file taxes, IMO.

 

I read a lot of investment forums and sites. I wouldn't have necessarily expected it on a forum devoted to coins, but I enjoy the economic/larger picture discussions here more than many of those that I read elsewhere. People seem more tolerant of divergent views, the discussions aren't tedious or mean spirited, I'm not being hammered over the head by people whose egos are bigger than their interest in whatever they are discussing, and the discussions all do seem somehow relate to bullion.

However, I am new here, and those who have set the parameters before me will have a better idea of how to maintain this positive atmosphere than I do.

 

I think the economics of bullion investing, what to buy, where to buy, what and where to avoid, and sharing photos and information about what we buy are the purpose of the forum. Politics are worthless as discussion points. It doesn't take any brains, training, investigation, knowledge or insight to hold strong political beliefs [which is why it's probably popular]. The fastest way to destroy any internet forum is to permit political discussion.

Regarding the taxes, you need to file even if your revenue is less than $20K as either capital gains or hobby income. I'm not a tax accountant and everyone should talk to theirs before deciding not to report income.