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.
I would really love to know how everyone on this site puts quotes in italics.
“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? “
Plenty of people in urban areas had victory gardens during World War II. I live in a city of 200,000 in a metro area of 600,000. I would say that almost everyone who has a yard in the city I live in has the capability to grow enough food to keep their families alive. It might only be enough to sustain 1,000 calories a day but it is enough to keep them alive.
“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. “
We’re pretty much already there. The media just hasn’t told you that yet.
“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.”
If we ever seriously got into a situation of hyperinflation, those ARMs wouldn’t matter because very quickly the principal would be settled and the government would definitely step in and modify the mortgages so that people couldn’t get screwed on interest. Not the most economically efficient or market oriented solution but if we get to that point then the primary concern will be national survival and not fidelity to any high blown philosophy.
Economies rebound remarkably fast if governments get out of the way, but that’s a big “if”.