Saturday, July 30, 2016

Richard Duncan's Solution to our Current Worldwide Debt Crisis

Richard Duncan is an interesting fellow.  His eyesight seems 20/20 when it comes to analyzing how we got where we are today.  Yet his solution is unthinkable to me.

If you are curious, please listen to this hour-long interview.  It will get you thinking and you will learn a lot about many aspects of today's economic conundrum. However, in my opinion, Mr. Duncan errs in believing that it is possible to stave off catastrophe.

Here is the interview:

Richard Duncan interview

He is basically recommending that the developed world throw gasoline on the fire of fiat money creation.  He says we must maintain the current level of world GDP through enormous debt creation (i.e. more QEs) and through government investment in infrastructure and technological projects. By doing this he hopes that the resulting advances will somehow allow us to avoid a worldwide crisis that would take the form of either a world war or a global depression like none we have ever seen.

His solution completely flies against all of my own economic theories–indeed against common sense itself. He sounds to me like Louis XV with his "après moi le déluge" (after me the deluge).

[Thanks to Wikipedia]
Surely, these credit/debt bubbles must burst. I believe that the longer we put it off, the worse it will be, and that we've already gotten to the stage where the war or depression or both are inevitable.

Yet he seems to think catastrophe can be staved off, and that the politicians will try this because they have no other choice. About that he is surely right, but is he right that the times have changed and we must modify our thinking? Or is this just putting off judgment day?

Please let me have your thoughts.

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