[Kirk]

Recently in the news it was reported that Standard and Poors has downgraded some european countrys. I have some questions concerning their actions.

#1...What is the USA'a credit rating...has it been downgraded....if not why?
#2...Where is the headquarters of Standard and Poors....who controls it.
#3...Why can't all public debt be forgiven and reboot the system....it seems easy....reboot.

Check out this bill .....Bill HR 2768...from the usa.

[andyt]

I think google would be your friend here and you could find the answer to 1 and 2 very quickly.

Forgiving the public debt means all the investors who hold that debt would lose their investment. It would freeze up the lending market. Forgiving the debt is a default, ie bankruptcy - it's not a painless process. The country wouldn't be able to borrow, or borrow at affordable rates for quite some time.

[Brenda]

If you look at Greece, and their debt... Would you really expect every country Greece owes to forgive them their fuck up, so THEY can start over?

Let's take it a bit more personal. I owe you $25,000. Of course, making only $100/yr, that will be a problem to pay off. So you forgive me my debt, and I start over. You are out of $25,000, that you borrowed in the first place, and still have to pay off. Sounds fair!

[andyt]

It's not countries that Greece owes money to, but banks. The fear is that if Greece defaults, banks in the rest of Europe will collapse. But they have negotiated investors taking a "haircut" ie taking a partial hit. If Italy defaults, fuggetaboudit. I guess the bailout funds are from countries, but I doubt those will ever be repaid.

[Brenda]

andyt wrote:

It's not countries that Greece owes money to, but banks. The fear is that if Greece defaults, banks in the rest of Europe will collapse. If Italy defaults, fuggetaboudit. I guess the bailout funds are from countries, but I doubt those will ever be repaid.

Tell that to the EU-tax payers Andy.

[1Peg]

Kirk wrote:

Recently in the news it was reported that Standard and Poors has downgraded some european countrys. I have some questions concerning their actions.

#1...What is the USA'a credit rating...has it been downgraded....if not why?

The US credit rating was downgraded 5 months ago to a AA-plus from AAA

[andyt]

Brenda wrote:

andyt wrote:

It's not countries that Greece owes money to, but banks. The fear is that if Greece defaults, banks in the rest of Europe will collapse. If Italy defaults, fuggetaboudit. I guess the bailout funds are from countries, but I doubt those will ever be repaid.

Tell that to the EU-tax payers Andy.

What's their e-mail address? But I bet they know it already.

[Kirk]

When I say debt....I mean all existing earthly debt.

Everything.

You see..moist countries hold debt which will never be paid back....never.

So if there is hardship....why not reboot hardships?

[Brenda]

Kirk wrote:

When I say debt....I mean all existing earthly debt.

Everything.

You see..moist countries hold debt which will never be paid back....never.

So if there is hardship....why not reboot hardships?

Yeah, reality is, that Utopia does not exist...

Also, global socialism... never gonna happen.

[Kirk]

More questions.

Where does the money go when countries pay off debt...?

[Brenda]

Are you doing a thesis on world economics or something??

[Kirk]

No thesis here.

We are going on a money hunt.....to find out the truth.....are you coming?

[Brenda]

Kirk wrote:

No thesis here.

We are going on a money hunt.....to find out the truth.....are you coming?

Nope.
The truth is simple. Countries (and people) live beyond their means. I cannot change that, nor can I help them.

[Kirk]

So people and countries live beyond their means.......but who lends to them....and where does the money go when paid back......and why haven't they asked for quicker payment before now....like 20 years ago?

[Brenda]

Kirk wrote:

So people and countries live beyond their means.......but who lends to them....and where does the money go when paid back......and why haven't they asked for quicker payment before now....like 20 years ago?

YOU do, for instance. By owning a bank account, by paying interest, by owning bonds etc etc.