Must read - The fatal arithmetic of imperial decline

[Eric50]

Must read article to better understand the looming funding crisis of the Federal US government. From Niall Ferguson.

 

Enjoy

 

Eric

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/224694/output/print

[netnet]

Having just read the Ascent of Money, and about to dive into Rogoff's book, I have been thinking about this sort of thing.  I wonder what does this mean practically?  Buy gold or gold miners?  Floating rate preferred of excellent credits? Move to Singapore? 

 

How do you play this imperial decline--to quote Munger, the failure rate of empires is 100%!

[prevalou]

the failure rate is 100%, ok. The problem is time it takes to fail. And long term we are all dead as Keynes said!

[woodstove]

Buy into a business that makes something the rest of the world wants.  You will get world currency and can spend it in local economy.

[Guest Broxburnboy]

Must read article to better understand the looming funding crisis of the Federal US government. From Niall Ferguson.

 

Enjoy

 

Eric

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/224694/output/print

 

Although I accept the gist of Ferguson's article, we must be aware that in academic circles there is a war going between Keynesian theorists, Friedman adherents (Supply side, trickle down, Reagan and Bushenomics), over whose fault the current fiscal and monetary mess is. Ferguson, apparently in the Freidman camp, implies that Keynesian theorists are responsible for the economic decline. Keynes, long dead, has been fingered as the fall guy by the obviously guilty.

Any analysis whose partial goal is to assign blame, is suspect.