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> US has the power to just tell any creditor that they won't be repaying Sure, and what happens then? Nobody buys new gov bonds; non-gov debt rating stops maki
by tpm 28d ago
> US has the power to just tell any creditor that they won't be repaying
Sure, and what happens then? Nobody buys new gov bonds; non-gov debt rating stops making sense. For the financial system it's a shock so huge it's better to only do this if no other solution is possible, at which point the gov is bankrupt anyway.
- skeledrew 28d ago> Nobody buys new gov bonds; non-gov debt rating stops making sense. Sanctions, black-listing and potentially more for anyone trying to play cute and do anything that "disadvantages the US". The rest of the world is forced to comply in enforcing it all, because nobody has backing power to stand against the US in any way.
- tpm 28d agoThat's not how any of this works. And anyway, most US bonds are held by US domestic entities.
- skeledrew 28d agoDoesn't really matter whether domestic or international, company or country. Anthropic got black-listed for not giving unrestricted access to their AI tech. India was slapped with an extra 25% tariff just for trading with Russia. Venezuela was invaded and its president snatched for not playing nice for US interests for too long. The list goes on and on throughout history. What the US wants, the US gets.
- tpm 28d agoSure, see also Vietnam, Afganistan, Iraq, Iran, where they didn't get what they wanted.
- Gud 28d agoPerhaps true 20 years ago, today I'm not so sure. From across the pond, the USA looks like a has been who relies a lot on old merits. The world got bombed to pieces 80 years ago, but has step by step rebuilt itself. The advantage the US had has been squandered by ineffective leadership.
- skeledrew 28d agoThey still hold the advantage no matter what. If diplomacy doesn't work, they can sanction or tariff or impose export controls. Or they can invade.
- myvoiceismypass 28d agoInvasion seems untenable given the leadership and strategy we are seeing in this giant Iran defeat.
- khriss 28d agoHmm let's examine how well the US sanctions against China and Russia are working, shall we? Forget those, how well are the vaunted US sanctions working against Iran?
- Gud 27d agoWhy do you say "no matter what"? It's pretty clear things are going pretty badly for the USA? Last time they went into the Middle East, they steamrolled their enemy in weeks. Now they're running low on ammo, without having accomplished anything of strategic value...
- ydat 28d ago> Sanctions, black-listing and potentially more for anyone trying to play cute and do anything that "disadvantages the US". The rest of the world is forced to comply in enforcing it all, because nobody has backing power to stand against the US in any way. You mean like the compliance of weak, sanctioned state of Iran with US demands?