unclej0

Shorting Treasuries: What's the Rationale?

I do not pretend to know what to do about this looming tragedy but I observe that another way to repatriate dollars is to sell American material assets. This seems to have been happening for a long time already...The political class seems unwilling to talk about this, lest we become surly. After all, cutting taxes or granting tax loopholes is their main play in the struggle for political power. One might hope that the current crop of Democrats will be different but I don't see how.

A nation that loses its manufacturing industry is surely a nation in decline but the alternative is to become more competitive, that is, to work for less. Will the UAW and the corporate execs voluntarily take pay/benefit cuts - even to save their own jobs? The government can take the cost of health care off their backs but that requires borrowing even more. My best idea is to tax consumption instead of payrolls.

Can anyone help?