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[Descan]

...

Okay. I like Canada.

But I might need to move to Germany or something, just because air pollution isn't something bound by national borders.

Fuckin' stop stinkin' up the continent, AMERICA.

[Rolan7]

Whenever I read all this stuff about the alleged possibility of the EC essentially throwing a giant hissy fit and refusing to elect Trump, it just makes me hope that if my side had lost, we'd have been a bit less... am-dram about it.

Assuming (maybe wrongly!) you consider "your side" the one that constantly bitched about Obama, you really don't have any high ground.  Particularly when that bitching became actively undermining explicit presidential powers, like naming justices.

I feel like this was aimed at something I recently said in the WTF thread.  Either way, well referenced (;

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

No, it was in response to

I thought chemistry was complex chemistry and biology was simple chemistry

But I guess we're all in a bio/chem mood today!

(Also I've read xkcd enough that I just have an innate sense of "there's an xkcd for that", it's weird. It's almost a fifteenth sense.)

[Shadowlord]

Commander Shepard lives

[Urist McScoopbeard]

"Politics"

[Descan]

But I guess we're all in a bio/chem mood today!

i have a biochem test i need to study for next week

and also a stats one x-x

[smirk]

RIP John Glenn

[Neonivek]

Well America... you asked for a Trump's America and now you are getting it.

[McTraveller]

Well America... you asked for a Trump's America and now you are getting it.

To be fair, some portion of American voters asked for that.  Of course, that holds true for just about everything in the world, even if that "some portion" is just a dictator or something.

That aside - should we be focusing on eliminating the deficit and paying back some of the debt? Curious to hear what folks think on that one. I have absolutely no idea myself, because sovereign debt is such a bizarro construct in the first place.

[Sergarr]

Well America... you asked for a Trump's America and now you are getting it.

To be fair, some portion of American voters asked for that.  Of course, that holds true for just about everything in the world, even if that "some portion" is just a dictator or something.

That aside - should we be focusing on eliminating the deficit and paying back some of the debt? Curious to hear what folks think on that one. I have absolutely no idea myself, because sovereign debt is such a bizarro construct in the first place.

No, and the main reason why is because this exponentially growing debt is what keeps our exponentially growing economy going. Also, because most of that debt is, IIRC, in form of the so-called "treasury bonds", which are issued for a term of 10 years and cannot be redeemed before that. America does pay on its debts, it just acquires more of it at the same time.

[Wolfhunter107]

Coal country Democrats lead charge towards government shutdown

[McTraveller]

No, and the main reason why is because this exponentially growing debt is what keeps our exponentially growing economy going.

But that's not strictly related to government debt; you could have zero public debt and still have exponentially growing economy because of the way fractional reserve works.

In fact, I've seen arguments that state that because we've only had sub-3% GDP growth the past few years even though our total debt has doubled in 8 years (roughly 9% per year), this shows that government debt growth doesn't have a very reliable influence on GDP growth.

[Sergarr]

No, and the main reason why is because this exponentially growing debt is what keeps our exponentially growing economy going.

But that's not strictly related to government debt; you could have zero public debt and still have exponentially growing economy because of the way fractional reserve works.

In fact, I've seen arguments that state that because we've only had sub-3% GDP growth the past few years even though our total debt has doubled in 8 years (roughly 9% per year), this shows that government debt growth doesn't have a very reliable influence on GDP growth.

Fractional reserve, as it is implemented in USA currently, simply multiplies the amount of money the government adds to the financial system by a factor of about 10. It doesn't do the exponential thing.

And you have to take into account that a lot of that debt is due to American government massive spending efforts to maintain the American unquestionably military, scientific and financial supremacy over the world. It may seem like a loss, but if USA were to lose said supremacy, the chain follow-up effects would be disastrous.

[McTraveller]

The US government can create money without issuing debt though; that's what I meant by the fractional reserve thing, though I likely mixed up the terminology. It's been a long day.

[Bumber]

Holy shit Trump, really? Scott Pruitt as head of EPA? The guy that has been fighting EPA decisions for years as a public attorney? The guy that is widely known for his fight against the Clean Power Plan? The guy that fights against clean air acts near parks? The guy that fought against reduction of mercury in industry emissions, and wants to ban EPA from making settlements with environmentalist groups? The guy that is basically opposed to EPA as a whole, head of EPA?

Now Pruitt must fight his most formidable opponent yet: Himself.