I will have to disagree with this article that all that money came out
of thin air. At least the value that the money represents did not come
from thin air. As I have said before, money is a measure of wealth. It
is not a fixed measure like a yardstick or a scale gives you. It is a
measure that allows us to keep track of what proportion of the available
wealth is controlled by whom. Since the available wealth fluctuates as
wealth is created and used up the value of the money also fluctuates.
But if more money is added while that addition of money has nothing to
do with how much wealth exists then that means that the wealth is only
being measured in smaller increments. That is, everyone else's money
becomes worth less. So was that infusion of money really made out of
thin air? I say no. It was effectively stolen from all the rest of us.
Each dollar in my wallet is now worth a little less because of this and
I had no control over how that vanished value was spent. It was taken
from me to be put into the stock market against my will.
___
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil DeGrasse Tyson
On 3/13/2020 4:57 PM, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
HOW WILL YOU PAY FOR IT?
Government Spends Equivalent of Entire US Student Debt to Rally Stock Market
for 15 Minutes
The money spent was equal to the total amount of US student debt, more than
twice as much as the Wall Street bailout of 2008 and nearly 30 times the net
worth of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, the richest man to ever run
for president.
by Alan Macleod
March 13th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
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With financial markets in a state of near panic over an incoming COVID-19
pandemic, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York took the extraordinary step of
injecting over $1.5 trillion into the stock market yesterday in a bid to calm
investors’ fears about a collapse. To put that into perspective, that number is
equal to the total amount of student debt held in the country, more than twice
as much as the original TARP bailout during the 2008 financial crash, and
nearly 30 times the net worth of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, the
richest man to ever run for president.
Despite the enormous investment, the market rallied for only around 15 minutes
before immediately slumping, negating the spike within two hours. Today, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average is over 3,000 points lower than yesterday, with a
third of all value wiped from the stock market in just two weeks. President
Trump has demanded more intervention to help the markets. Meanwhile, his son
Eric was busy deleting previous statements he made advising people that this
would be a great time to invest and win big.
Shaun
@shaun_vids
imo, the best sort of economic system is one so fragile that we need to pretend
a pandemic isn't happening to avoid frightening it to death
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Earlier this week the government decreed that all medical facilities nationwide
conduct coronavirus testing free of charge. And even establishment Democrats
like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are demanding comprehensive social welfare
reform, including emergency paid sick leave and healthcare, despite campaigning
their whole lives against those policies. As recently as Monday, Biden, the
Democratic frontrunner for president, suggested he would veto any Medicare for
All bill that the House of Representatives passed.
These new positions from the Democratic elite have certainly surprised many
activists who have fought for universal healthcare for decades, and have faced
committed opposition from Democrats, Republicans and the media alike. During
the Democratic primary debates, moderators asked 21 questions about where the
money was going to come from to pay for programs like free healthcare or
student loan relief, but never once asked about financing aggression against
Iran or any other enemy nation. Yet, in the face of a crisis, it appears
Washington is trying to gauge how much free healthcare will be necessary to
avoid a disaster.
Stephanie Kelton
✔
@StephanieKelton
For those who might be wondering, “Where did the Federal Reserve get the $1.5
trillion they just committed to injecting?”
A blast from the past explanation of how it all works. 💻
Embedded video
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In reality, the $1.5 trillion came from the same place as it always has: from
thin air. The Fed simply added some numbers into a balance sheet and the money
was created. Authorities could do the same to fight many of America’s most
pressing social problems: homelessness, hunger, crumbling infrastructure,
poverty, but to do so would be to use the power of the government to help the
great mass of people, rather than those at the top. Italy, for instance, has
declared that all mortgage repayments were postponed. New York Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has suggested the U.S. do the same with student debt.
The great anthropologist David Graeber notes that during periods of disaster,
societies tend to move towards communism. “People tend to behave the same way,
reverting to a kind of rough-and-ready communism,” he writes. “Hierarchies,
markets and the like become luxuries that no one can really afford them. Anyone
who has lived through such a moment can speak to the way strangers become
sisters and brothers, and human society itself seems to be reborn.”
The radical measures being pushed through almost overnight show that wholesale
systemic change is distinctly possible. However, the Trump administration
appears focused on ensuring that there will be one rule for those at the top
and another for the rest of society.
John Iadarola
✔
@johniadarola
To the extent that our government is worried about the coronavirus, it seems
like 99% of their worry is on how it will affect the bottom line of the biggest
corporations in the world.
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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States rose above 1,700
today, with 41 recorded deaths in total. However, due to sparse testing, the
actual figures are undoubtedly higher. The U.S. has tested only around 8,000
people nationwide. In comparison, South Korea is capable of testing 20,000
every day. A number of prominent figures, such as actor Tom Hanks and NBA
player Rudy Gobert, are among the confirmed cases. Yesterday, MintPress spoke
to Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye, a doctor in San Diego, CA. She advised that:
“Quarantining is the only way to really tackle a virus that you don’t know,
where transmission is questionable, or even how this virus came to be,
quarantining has to be the only way that we can get a hold of transmission.”
Dr. Sefa-Boakye was also critical of the government’s response, noting:
The fact that we have to question potential stock market losses and question
whether we are going to be able to provide paid or unpaid leave to our workers
is telling you that we are not equipped for pandemics because our priority is
markets and production.”
