Bobby. wrote on Nov 5^th, 2025 at 8:23pm:


Recessions, like inflationary episodes, have many causes.
It's important to identify the actual cause(s) in each specific case.

Quote:


Practicing 'austerity'  - eg denying home ownership to an entire generation, and denying timely home care packages for aged people who are dying without assistance...

All in the name of achieving  'balanced budgets' ....

The new 'democratic socialist' policies envisioned for New York:

(ABC News Australia)

New York City's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is planning a socialist overhaul. This is his plan

New York City's newly-elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is promising to make people's lives cheaper, but even some of his supporters are sceptical on whether he can deliver.

The city faces a deepening housing and cost-of-living crisis that has pushed thousands into homelessness or out of the city entirely.

The self-described democratic socialist is proposing bold measures to tackle these issues, but delivering on them will hinge on generating billions in new revenue and winning support from state politicians.

Here is what Mr Mamdani has promised New York City residents over the next four years.

Freeze some rents

New York City is notorious for its sky-high housing costs — some of the priciest in the world.

To curb sudden rent spikes and rising homelessness, Mr Mamdani is proposing a four-year freeze on the city's 1 million rent-stabilised apartments.

While this proposal would not require any additional city council funding, the freeze needs approval from the Rent Guidelines Board.

Critics argue this proposal fails to tackle the city's skyrocketing market-rate apartments or its broader housing shortage.

To address this, Mr Mamdani has put forward a plan to build 200,000 new affordable housing units over the next decade.

Expand free childcare

Mr Mamdani has pledged to make childcare free for every child in the city under the age of five.

This is the incoming mayor's most expensive proposal. His campaign estimates it could cost up to $US6 billion ($9.25 billion) a year.

The city already offers free childcare for children aged three and four years of age.

Despite that, childcare still costs New York City parents upwards of roughly $US20,000 a year a child.

Mr Mamdani argues his expanded policy would help more mothers return to the workforce, generating an estimated $US900 million in additional income tax revenue.

No-cost buses

New York City's buses are among the slowest in the United States, often crawling through streets clogged with traffic that are not designed for public transport.

Mr Mamdani is proposing to make every bus across the city's five boroughs free for the next four years — a move he says would boost patronage as shown by a previous pilot program.

His plan also includes expanding dedicated bus lanes to speed up service.

The proposal has drawn scepticism from some critics who point out that many low-income riders already board without paying.

This policy is estimated to cost the city $US800 million every year and would require approval from the state-run Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Tax the rich (more)

New York City is home to the highest concentration of millionaires and billionaires in the world.

Mr Mamdani argues that those at the top should contribute more to help fund the city's public services.

His plan would raise the city tax rate, which is currently set at 3.876 percentage points, by 2 points. New York City's ultra rich are already subjected to the highest non-federal income tax rates in the country.

Mr Mamdani also wants to increase corporate taxes on the city's biggest businesses.

Doing all this would require approval from state politicians, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul — a moderate Democrat who backs Mr Mamdani but opposes raising the tax rate.

Create city-owned grocery stores

In a bid to bring down the soaring cost of groceries, Mr Mamdani is proposing to create a city-run grocery store in all five boroughs of New York City.

The initiative would start as a pilot program and be expanded if successful.

These stores would buy and sell goods at wholesale prices, aiming to prevent price gouging along the supply chain.

This policy is set to cost an estimated $US60 million in its first phase.

Already high grocery prices in the city have increased more since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year and introduced tariffs on some items.

Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu

Mr Mamdani says he would direct the the NYPD to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited New York City.

The pledge reflects his pro-Palestinian stance. He has been scathing of Mr Netanyahu, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and and crimes against humanity over the course of the war in Gaza.

While Mr Netanyahu is a frequent visitor to the city, experts say such an arrest is unlikely and unlawful.

Mr Mamdani has also pledged to divest city funds from Israeli companies and institutions, signalling a clear departure from mainstream Democratic Party positions that has typically offered unwavering support for Israel.

Always great to see a 'democratic socialist' win a free election.

BUT.....

the establishment will destroy him; he won't be able to increase taxes on the wealthy.

Pity free public money  (treasury issued n money) is still rejected by the ignorant mainstream who have no understanding that new money is always created out of thin air.

The real concern for society is managing  competition between the public and private sectors, not 'balancing a (government) budget'. 
 

Today makes the USSR of the 70s & 80s feel appealing in some respects.

Bobby. wrote on Nov 5^th, 2025 at 8:37pm:


First:  all new money is created ex nihilo, whether (a) by issuance of debt-free money in the nation's treasury, or (b) by central  bank 'money printing', or - as is the case for 90% of new money under the current system - (c) in private banks when they write loans  (create credit) for credit-worthy customers. 

(a) is currently illegal.

(b) is generally confined to economic emergencies like recessions (eg GFC) or pandemics (eg, covid-19).

Note: unlike (a), central bank-issued money is accounted as government debt, which must be repaid with interest to bond holders.

(c) represents money creation in the private sector - which, when borrowed (eg by you and me), must also be repaid with interest.


Now to your questions:

1. The $368 billion is issued over the time of the contract to deliver 8 submarines (2 decades?), so the annual impact on the government budget is managable.

Note:

Over the pandemic, Australian Government gross debt increased from $534.4 billion in March 2019 to $885.5 billion in April 2022 and is now at the highest level relative to GDP (gross domestic product) since the 1950s when debt accrued during the Second World War was still on the Australian Government balance sheet

ie c. $350 billion was added to government debt over 3 years of the pandemic, a bit less than the total submarine contract with funds to be spent over some decades.

The important thing is  this "money printing" to which you allude is accounted by the bond holders who will finance the government debt.

........

Now, to save the world's governments from democracy-wrecking 'austerity' caused by attempting to 'balance their budgets', governments will need to authorize issuance of free pubic money via their national treasuries.

This will require currency-issuing governments to manage overall resource allocation, (while avoiding inflation) including by decreeing the resources required to deliver the essentials for all (determined via a political choice of the electorate) ....which implies a smaller role for the private sector - in opposition to the current orthodoxy where the private sector plays the major role in the economy.

No doubt this is what Trump means by "communism".... though I doubt 'communist' Mamdani will be asking Trump to authorize funds issued via (a).

The Hidden System Controlling Your Life: The Global Debt Trap.


Nov 6, 2025 

Debt isn’t just a financial tool — it’s the invisible force shaping nations, economies, and our daily lives. From ancient clay tablets to modern digital markets, we’ve built a world dependent on endless borrowing. But what happens when the system reaches its breaking point? This video uncovers the history, the mechanics, and the future of the global debt machine — and why the next reset may already be in motion.

Bobby. wrote on Nov 7^th, 2025 at 10:35am:



Dear TGD,
did you watch that video?
It makes me more worried than ever.

OK then TGD,

what if our RBA decided to stop printing more money?

(Daily Mail)

Opinion: Britain's doom loop has begun. The signs are everywhere

Story by Alex Brummer

My deeper concern, though, is what it reveals about the socialist creed that infects every economic decision this government makes. Labour’s disastrous belief that ministers always know best is trapping the British people and our most productive businesses in a never-ending round of tax increases and higher prices – a ‘doom loop’. Our bloated state will continue swelling even as the private sector –which generates the wealth in the first place – withers away. This government has zero appetite for cutting the size of the state – despite a national debt which, already at £2.9 trillion, is heading towards 100 per cent of our national output, meaning the public sector will soon consume every penny Britain earns.

Socialist creed?

(btw the last sentence: "public sector consuming every penny..." is meaningless waffle,the actual debt repayments depend on the headline interest rate). 

Yeh, I get the picture ...this garbage from a Thatcherite  ideologue with as much understanding of how modern fiat economies work as she had - which is to say, very little.

Note: the private sector does NOT create wealth alone, or even in the first place; both sectors are vital for wealth creation (eg pubic education, public infrastructure, public university research).

So - bring on government 'austerity'.... after all, it won't hurt ogres like Brummer.

Meanwhile the guy in your video who claims  abandoning the gold standard caused the unrepayable debt crises; there isn't enough gold in the world to cover global trade, which is why Nixon was forced to ditch the gold standard, as the US changed from being the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation.


The real problem of course is Reeves is forced to tax taxpayers as per ancient custom....