I get that there’s a risk of hyperinflation but there are two things about hyperinflation you need to understand.
1. If you know how to grow your own food you are somewhat insulated
2. It would wipe out all debts and allow us to restart with a new currency and new rules to prevent it from ever coming to that again.
Germany is the only fiscally prudent nation in Western Europe for one reason and one reason alone. They endured Weimar.
And let me tell you what the alternative to hyperinflation could be. It could be a situation where as many as 30% of homeowners are forced out of their homes. Where many small business owners are forced out of their businesses (if they own the premises) for inability to pay the mortgages. That would be far more damaging to national stability than hyperinflation.
We’d survive hyperinflation and a currency reset. We might not survive a quarter of the nation’s home owners being kicked out of their homes and forced to rent because they will forever have resentment against this country and will be less likely to care what happens to it.
Is that assuming that you have current wages and that those wages will keep up with the inflation rate? Doesn't that also assume that all employee pension plans, individual IRA's and 401K plans (denominated in dollars, not precious metals) become worthless leaving all holders destitute? I keep hearing this arguement that hyperinflation isn't all bad because of the debt wipe out, but I find no solace in the fact that ones current wages may not keep up with a hyperinflationary rate and all individual pensions, savings, and retirement savings become worthless (if denominated in dollars).
Give me a break. We are a nation of 310 million people. 80% of the population lives in urban areas. The idea that any substantial number people can survive on subsistence farming is nonsense. Nor will anyone be insulated from the impact of inflation unless they are hermits living alone in the woods. And besides, what kind of state would the nation be in if the people were trying to survive on growing their own food?
2. It would wipe out all debts and allow us to restart with a new currency and new rules to prevent it from ever coming to that again.
How we would get from here to there would be problematic, especially since the dollar is the global curency. Essentially, we would have to declare bankruptcy as a nation, which would send the global economy into something far greater than the Great Depression.
Germany is the only fiscally prudent nation in Western Europe for one reason and one reason alone. They endured Weimar.
They also endured WWII, which essentially destroyed the country economically. The Gemrans are not as in good shape economically as you make them out to be. They still have some of the highest tax rates among the developed countries and they have cut back on the entitlement programs.
And let me tell you what the alternative to hyperinflation could be. It could be a situation where as many as 30% of homeowners are forced out of their homes. Where many small business owners are forced out of their businesses (if they own the premises) for inability to pay the mortgages. That would be far more damaging to national stability than hyperinflation.
I went thru the Carter years and high inflation. I thought I got a bargain when I got a home mortgage rate of 10.5%. Inflation will drive up interest rates making it more difficult for people to buy homes or builders to construct new ones. And anyone on an ARM will have a major problem.