Printing money - stock market surge (General)

by dan, Saturday, January 09, 2021, 14:47 (1175 days ago) @ dulan drift

It looks like they are going to keep those presses running, at least in the US. One philosophy making the rounds is that there is indeed infinite money, and infinite debt. The US govt pays its debt by printing more money.

All of this is resulting in, among other things, real estate becoming increasingly out of the reach of many people, and so they end up renting. But this, of course, is pushing up rental prices. And those middle class people who can get their hands on a house are increasingly doing so by taking on massive debt.

One of the most cruel realities of the 2008 meltdown was not only that so many people lost their homes and were forced into renting, but that because of that, rental prices skyrocketed. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound! That trend has continued as the rich get richer, buy more properties, and the poor get poorer.

Now, with COVID, we have an added troubling situation. So many people have lost their jobs, and many if not most of them have fallen behind on their rent or mortgage. The US govt passed a law that forbids evictions until March, at which point, presumably, landlords can evict away. All of these people who haven't been able to pay rent are accumulating massive debts that they'll never be able to pay off. If they're making $10/hour when they work, and they can't afford their rent now, what makes anyone thing they will be able to pay all that back rent due?

And so in a very short time the US is going to see literally millions of households being thrown out onto the street. I'm guessing the presses will be working over time for years to come. It's almost as if the economy is so sick that there really isn't any choice. But what will it all lead to?


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