Only on LessWrong would I hope to never see a statement that begins, ‘Only on LessWrong’.
Tiltmom
Karma: −4
- Tiltmom 14 Jun 2013 4:07 UTC−5 pointsin reply to: DSherron’s comment on: Rationality Quotes June 2013
Only on LessWrong would I hope to never see a statement that begins, ‘Only on LessWrong’.
In response to your bullet points in (1):
This can be simplified further by eliminating the printing/burning and foreign exchange buying and selling. Take those steps away and the effect is to tax the rich and give the money to the poor. And, yes, the government can do that.
But, it is not the same as foreigners buying schillings and giving the money to the poor. You recognize that buying schillings means more schillings (inflation). But, what is forgotten is what happens to the foreign exchange that is used to buy the schillings? If the schillings were freshly created (inflationary) then it means the government sold the schillings. What can the government do with the foreign exchange? It could buy food or other goods and import them and sell them in the local market to get back the same schillings it issued. The net effect would be more food or other imported goods without any inflation.
Alternatively, if a private entity were the seller of the schillings, then no new schillings are created in the first place (no inflation). That entity could also take the foreign exchange received, buy goods, import them and sell them in the market. Again, the net impact would be more imported goods without inflation.