Just because depreciating a currency or a debt isn’t called a default doesn’t mean it’s not a default. From Nick Giambruno at internationalman.com:
Every time the US government has faced an existential financial crisis in its history, it has chosen to change the rules rather than honor its promises in full—usually by replacing gold or silver with paper.
From the War of 1812 when interest payments were missed, to the Lincoln’s Greenbacks, to Roosevelt voiding gold clauses in 1933, the end of silver redemption in 1968, and Nixon closing the gold window in 1971, Washington has defaulted five times before—often by shifting the terms of payment rather than admitting outright failure.
There’s no doubt these episodes were defaults. To claim otherwise would be like trying to unilaterally change the terms of your dollar-denominated mortgage or credit card bill so that you could pay your liabilities with Argentine pesos or Zimbabwe dollars—and then pretending that somehow it wasn’t a default.
The US government is essentially telling its creditors the same thing Darth Vader once said: “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.”
Just like in Star Wars, the message is clear—Washington will change the rules whenever it needs to. Creditors may get paid, but not in the way they were promised, and certainly not in the way they expected.
Today, the US government is once again in an existential financial bind. The national debt is unmanageable, federal spending is locked on an upward path, and interest on that debt has already surged past $1 trillion a year. At this pace, interest could soon overtake Social Security as the single largest item in the federal budget.
WAR always happens when the banksters get to gambling.
CBDC on the other side?
Please – I desperately need a source of financial TRUTH, which is not in the business of selling gold, silver, or etc…
I can see the reality of all the is being described here, but I cannot convince my husband that (as retirees whose assets are in dollars) we need to do something to protect our financial future from ‘whatever is coming’…
His go to response to articles such as this, is that the author is only ‘doomsaying’ in order to sell gold (or silver, etc.)
If now & then, you could include articles by financial experts from strictly informational sources, I’m sure there must be other readers such as myself who would be very grateful.
Thank you!
Cae
I see your point. I’ll see what I can do.