Do you live in a rich country ?

@whowasthatmaskedman
...got a minute?

@swirlie For you? Always..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
Oh god, now I'm blushing... 🤩

Anyway, hypothetical situation...

Here I am, the Queen of the USA which I know you can visualize.

However, I can see from my own incompetence at running a country that I've driven my land into squalor and now my country's economy is failing miserably.

But I have a solution... I think I need to devalue the US Dollar to make our national debt somehow go away ..or at least be falsely palatable to potential but unwary investors.

Question 1) How do I devalue the US Dollar?

Question 2) What would that look like.. meaning, what would I expect to see happening following the devaluation of the US Dollar to the extent that would be necessary to achieve my objective?

@swirlie Someone has been looking at my crystal ball. This has already happened once.. And it is going (almost certainly) to happen again..
In the 30s depression (this one will likely be bigger) FDR declared private gold ownersjip illegal. The public had to surrender all bullion to the government for the set rate at the time. Once the gold was surrendered, the government simply declared the new "price" for gold. (You can look the numbers up) Job done.. People could purchase bullion again at the new , much higher $ price..
If I had to guess, this time I dont think people will be forced to surrender gold..But it is a simple matter to close the markets for a day or two and declare a new, higher gold price. The US then has a healthier looking balance sheet and can also pay down some of its debt by offering gold at the new inflated price.. Offering a great windfall profit to any rich people who happen to have a few gold bars buried in the back yard. Nice for them..
Now for the bad news..Apart from driving up prices for engagement and wedding rings, this will widen the gap further between rich and poor..And with the level of US debt, it will only delay the total economic Tsunami by 2 or 3 years if that.. Remember. Elon Musk is the richest man in the world. And it will take three Musks just to pay the interest bill on what America owes the world this year... Then what does America do next year..?

@whowasthatmaskedman
Wow! Excellent analysis, but if I were an American, I think I would be feeling somewhat claustrophobic right now, with no apparent way out of this quagmire.

If I were Queen of the USA, I think I'd already want my assets cashed-out by now and perhaps sitting in a more stable currency than what my US dollar offers the world.

At the same time, I should have my jet all gassed-up and ready to roll on a moment's notice should I have to take a midnight taxi ride to the airport with the headlights off.

@swirlie Still peeking at my crystal ball. That is exactly what a lot of rich people are doing and have done. Real estate in other nations they can run to in a heartbeat. And many large companies have safe haven alternate HQs. They are global operations and will survive America falling into an economic sinkhole. Which is just possible..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
I'm glad to hear that smarter minds than my own have already come up with an alternate HQ location to run to. They must have been anticipating this for a long time now...

@swirlie I have been telling anyone who would listen this was coming since EP times and being scorned for it. Only two things surprise me. How long it has taken to his the wall. And how bad it has been allowed to get before it did..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
What do you think has kicked the ball down the road far enough to extend this delay you speak of?

@swirlie Inertia..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
Like pulling the throttle back on the Queen Mary... nothing happens for a few days, right?

@swirlie Yes. And the number of manipulationsand compensatingreactions by over nations. Those despots with a lot of oil and 4 shipping containers os $US have an interest in keeping the $US in play.. I think what finally got it rolling was Covid.. Every other economy had problems, But could pull levers and get their economy back on the rails (more or less) But in the US all the levers had already been pulled and didnt work. The economy has been quietly in free fall since then. And Trump and friends are just stealing the silverware as the house burns..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
Remarkable way of analyzing it all, which surprisingly makes perfect sense when I look around and see how nothing seems to work for them... hence the free-fall syndrome.

@swirlie They used to pay me for stuff like this.. More specific and detailed of course..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
So, you gave me the condensed version with an employee pricing incentive? 🤭

@swirlie No. They have computers that do way better than I can now. But most economists like to see one set of numbers and analyse them. I look at a dozen sets at once, see how they interact into the future, mingling and bouncing off each other and some up with a pretty good guess for "What if we do this? " in five years time, looking at all the factors. Its my "Rainman" thing..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
Thanks for the explanation of my Queen for a day scenario! Don't think I'd take that job!

@swirlie Nope.. In the current environment, I would be as behind the scenes and invisible as possible.."For the losers now will be later to win.. The times, they are a changin' "😷