QUESTION: With the private vs public debt and interest rate discussion, nobody is mentioning things like government legislation to forcing people to buy government debt. For example 401’s, IRA’s… must have or be in government debt.
Your thoughts?
ANSWER: Governments have often resorted to forced loans. When Italy was in trouble, they took 90-day paper and converted it to 10-year paper. Most people are clueless about the German hyperinflation. They assume it was due to the government printing money. The spark was December 1922 when the government confiscated 10% of everyone’s property and handed them bonds as a forced loan. Confidence completely collapsed at that moment.
This is all part of the process of the decline in confidence in the government. This is why the system is unsustainable. We will be heading into a great monetary crisis very soon.
