The politics of s'im-c'ity....

[Ibby]

Originally Posted by JBKlyde

not my field of expertise... I'm just a poet/painter but if I had money I would want my taxes to be used in a responsible manner. What I don't understand is that If America has the ability to keep printing more money, then why don't they just print money to pay the debt.

I understand the world of international currency and its valuation only roughly enough to vaguely discuss it in the political realm, not enough to explain it in full, but the basics of the answer to that question, JBK, is: international valuations of currency - including ours - are based basically on betting, that is to say, based on odds valuation by investors. The dollar is worth money as long as people look at the American government and believe that the government has the financial power and authority to back its money. In America, there are a LOT of factors urging investors to believe that the debts the government owes them will be paid, and a LOT of factors urging them to believe the Dollar still buys things. The government can't technically print bills for itself to pay its debtors with directly - the money has to go through the bureaucracy, and has to be "sourced" from somewhere that gives the paper of the bill the same weight as every other piece of dollar-shaped paper out there. BUT, since the government can devalue its own currency in a crisis, the dollar can't collapse like Greece looks about to collapse, because the US could devalue the dollar, and Greece doesn't have authority over the Euro. Devaluing the dollar is kinda like "printing more money to pay the bills", and causes inflation a lot like "printing more money", but importantly, the bills themselves - printing paper - is irrelevant. Money nowadays MOSTLY isn't paper. It's all about faith.