Debt

[fiveworlds]

However the oldest "currency," gold, has gotten it's value for being durable and shiny.

 

Yeah but it sucks because gold is really useful in electronics. There are better uses for gold like in life-saving equipment.

[Harold Squared]

Because they spend more than they take in and borrow in order to do so.

And pay murderous interest on that principal, sometimes more than the initial sum. It is a racket.

[dimreepr]

And pay murderous interest on that principal, sometimes more than the initial sum. It is a racket.

 

 

 

They weren’t forced to borrow; however much the culture coerced them.

[iNow]

And pay murderous interest on that principal, sometimes more than the initial sum. It is a racket.

Perhaps if that were true, you'd have a valid point, but it's not true so you don't.

 

Since 2010, the U.S. Treasury has been obtaining negative real interest rates on government debt, meaning the inflation rate is greater than the interest rate paid on the debt and the real value of what we owe back is less than what we borrowed.

 

SOURCE: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DFII5

 

 

At low interest rates such as those available to us since 2010, government borrowing actually saves taxpayer money and improves creditworthiness.

 

SOURCE 1: http://blogs.reuters.com/lawrencesummers/2012/06/03/breaking-the-negative-feedback-loop/

SOURCE 2: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/05/30/why_are_we_collecting_taxes_.html