Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (9350)	11/8/2001 3:47:40 AM
From: FaultLine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

A bit of "sensitivity" on the part of the meat-heads in Washington and New York may well have averted the catastrophe of 9/11. and what "bit" would you suggest? --fl

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (9350)	11/8/2001 4:09:40 AM
From: Poet	Respond to of 281500

Hi Ray, I had the same general reaction to different "bits" of that screed (Let's have a sensitive war) <snip> " National Public Radio weighed in with a 19-part series reporting widespread bias against German-Americans. The series said Americans of German descent had been targets of 100,000 hate crimes–two had been shot at, three had suffered punches in the nose, one had been slapped with a bratwurst, and 99,994 had received hurtful sidelong glances or insincere hellos from neighbors." Snide and offensive? You betcha. <snip> "NPR also announced it had decided to cover the war by attending every meeting of the Berkeley, Calif., city council. NPR reported that the council, by a 7-to-2 vote, decided not to declare war on either Germany or Japan. Instead, the nine members–and all 10,000 students at Berkeley–lighted candles and declared themselves individual hate-free zones." The evil city of Berkeley strikes yet another blow to all that's right (and I mean this in everysense of the word) about America. O the humanity. I'm waiting for the companion piece: " How the Berkeley Faculty Wrested World Domination from the International Jewish Cabal".

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (9350)	11/8/2001 4:24:43 AM
From: bela_ghoulashi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

If you were trouble yourself to follow the link at the very bottom of the post you would see that I added no personal comment whatsoever. Snide or otherwise. I simply moved the title of the article so it would show up as the message header. The article itself was a satiric parable. Lighten up. Or at least pay more attention.

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (9350)	11/8/2001 4:35:51 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Re German WW1 reparations. An alternative view, with Australian denigrations included... This view from the "New Australian" indicates the reparations were payable. It's a general critical review of actions in Australia to recover the economy. newaus.com.au quote ....Mr Dingbat asserted that Keynes got it right when he said reparations would cause the German economy irreparable damage. Really? Keynes was largely a lonely and erroneous voice on this issue and was challenged by a number of continental economists, among them Bertil Ohil (Sweden), Jacques Rueff (France), Ludwig von Mises, Gottfried Haberler, Fritz Machlup, (Austria), etc. Ludwig von Mises was able to show that Germany was capable of paying reparation without suffering the economic harm that Keynes predicted. Looking at the period from 1925 to 1930: Year.......income....reparations.....%reparations. 1925........961........16.25..............1.69 1926........997........18.30..............1.84 1927.......1118........24.37..............2.18 1928.......1185........30.75..............2.60 1929.......1187........38.47..............3.24 1930.......1092........26.10..............2.39 If Germany could not have easily made these payments, perhaps Dingbat will care to tell us how she was able to quickly rearm and spark off World War II and then fight ferociously for six long years? (And please spare me any drivel about the “transfer problem”). The truth is that von Mises blew Keynes out of the water. That Percy Dingbat has no idea what Keynes was really about is self-evident. So let us turn from Dingbat the monkey to Keynes the organ grinder. On page 9 of the General Theory Keynes writes: “Whilst workers will usually resist a reduction of money-wages it is not their practice to withdraw their labour whenever there is a rise in the price of wage goods [consumer goods]”. In plain English, use inflation to price people back into work by cutting real wage rates. And that is what the smarter Keynesians, of which dingbat is not one, really mean by “increasing demand”..... end quote

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (9350)	11/8/2001 9:04:11 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

>>such onerous reparations demands on Germany that the economy there was ruined<< Sorry, but this statement is factually inaccurate, although it certainly represents the German "party line." As you know, I am working on a history of the Great Depression. Accordingly, I have made a very thorough study of the history of German reparations, the history of which will form at least a chapter. Entire books could be written about the topic, and indeed, have been. It is a fact that Germany was capable of making these reparations without being ruined, but interestingly, that point is irrelevant to what actually happened. Most people don't realize that the German hyperinflation was due to a policy of printing money deliberately pursued by the German government, primarily for the purpose of resisting French occupation of the Ruhr. All German factories in the occupied territory went on strike, and the German government shipped plates for printing money to the local authorities, who were instructed to print as much money as was needed to keep the strikers funded. It was understood that inflation would result, but also understood that inflation would wipe out debts. As soon as the French agreed to cease occupation, the Germans issued new marks, backed by gold, and the hyperinflation ceased. But that was trivial. The primary method used to avoid paying reparations was borrowing money from, primarily, people in America. The Germans borrowed more money than they ever owed in reparations. In large part, this was done through bond sales, and in large part the bond purchasers were people of German descent in the USA, but the interest rates were high enough that people all over the USA were happy to buy them. Germany was perceived as a good credit risk until 1927/1928. I believe, although I have not put this together definitely, that German solvency began to be questioned when Dr. Schacht (President of the Deutsches Bank) deliberately crashed the German stock market (1927). At about the same time, the US stock market began its famous rise, and bonds were less desireable in general. It may simply be that the Germans instituted capital controls to keep gold from flowing out (it was flowing to France and the US), and that's what made US bond underwriters less willing to float bonds in Germany. Or maybe it's all three - German stock market crash, German capital controls, and US stock market boom. What "ruined" the German economy was the unwillingness of bond holders to renew the bonds, for whatever reason. I subscribe to the recent theory that the Great Depression began in Germany, perhaps in 1927, no later than 1928. And, of course, the Great Depression began in the US months before the Great Crash, but that's another chapter. At any rate, in 1931, Hoover declared a moratorium on the repayment of reparations, as well as Allied repayment of monies borrowed during WWI. I would be happy to furnish sources for the above statements, but for most of them you would have to have access to a good university library. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As for why the Germans started WWII - it wasn't due to the hyperinflation. The German economy had recovered quite nicely from hyperinflation long before the Great Depression, and the German economy had recovered quite nicely from the Great Depression before they invaded Poland.