[Info-vax] HP stopping VMS paper documentation ?

[JF Mezei]

AEF wrote:

> The U.S. is not bankrupt. It is still paying its bills, and can borrow
> at near zero percent interest rates. That is not bankrupt.


I was away for a couple of weeks this past summer. Didn't the USA have
to declare bankrupcy or something because the government couldn't pass
some bill authorizing payments ?

Was was it just a case of its credit rating going down a notch because
it was late paying back loans ?


Any nation that needs to borrow money to make payments of previously
borrowed money is in trouble.  Bankers have some formula that decide how
much of a line of credit you can have based on your assets (aka: GDP for
governments).

So while the USA is below its credit limit,  the rate at which it keeps
on borrowing seems to indicate it will reach it.  (the US stands out
because the numbers are bigger, but it isn't the only one).

Where the USA is different is that its workforce has no feeling of
entitlement. In countries like Greece and Italy, workers will strike
even at just a hint of austerity measures. And every strike reduces the
country's productivity, tax revenues and thus make the goverment debts
even worse.