How did America become so dependent on China???

[billeau2]

Because one of the main things we were talking about is inflation. Currency can be printed at will. Money has to be produced in one way or the other which is of value itself. As you say the commodity that is being used as a medium of exchange is really irrelevant, I just used gold because it is an easy example. Money puts a limit on the amount of dollars the government prints and is a natural defense against inflation in a way that currency can never mimic. You can't talk inflation and act like money and currency are the same thing. They absolutely are not.



On gold you are wrong. Gold is used for many purposes outside of just being bling around someones neck. It has value as a medium of exchange, used as a hedge against inflation and used prominently in electronics and many many other uses.

The utility of gold is not an important aspect of value... Im not wrong about that. Gold has scarcity and durability. The other uses are not based in utility which was the point made.

Again I know economists make that distinction but what you are referring to is a "fiat currency" not the distinction made. I will concede that in certain context one may make that distinction, but our relationship to money produced... is more marked by distinguishing it from an absolute standard of value...vis a vis the Gold standard for example. because with a limited amount of the material it has a certain value in itself. I never said you were off about the Gold standard, I brought it up, and either way it serves as a perfect example.

Im belaboring this because there are other things that are absolutely essential here: For example, our treasury the place that is usually produces "money" does not, the fed produces our money... thats a pretty importan distinction: treasuries deal with treasure...and the value of treasure is the basis for money. Just like bank notes originally were notes handed out by the metal smiths, who had big safes that could hold the gold, and would use the notes as a claim on the gold held.

The reason we have the problem we both recognize has to do with fiat currency...the fact that we have a currency that is allowed to dilute and serve the interests of those who can create inflation and recession. You claim that this means they are producing currency and not real money... Fine, call it anything you like. At the end of the day real assets of value, who has the means to acquire them is the issue. If the elites used Gold to buy these things, and gave everyone else cash, would it make you feel any better? lol.

[Eff Pandas]

Actually standard of living in China has gone up so much that they farm out production to many still poor southeast Asian countries. Company owned by Chinese but they are doing same things we are doing with even poorer countries.

Interesting. Makes sense.

Who's China's Chinese people so to speak?

[Eff Pandas]

Its hard for a lot of people to reason properly and make a distinction between buying things of inferior quality versus buying things made to be more efficient. It takes intelligence to make such a distinction.

I'd agree.

I think a lot of it is that there are a lot of ppl who don't care about quality with many products. Like I don't give a fook if I got a A+ spatula or a C- spatula that's a quarter of the price. That's less about intelligence & more about saving money on things you give few fooks about.