[Info-vax] HP stopping VMS paper documentation ?

[AEF]

On Nov 29, 12:27 pm, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spam... at vaxination.ca> wrote:
> 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 ?

No.

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

No. Standard and Poor's based their rating in part on the bad
political situation. When it was pointed out that they made a serious
mistake in their calculations, they stood by their rating drop. I'm
not aware of the U.S. being late paying any 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).

It makes sense if you can borrow new money at a lower interest rate.
It's like transferring your debt from one credit card to a cheaper
one, or refinancing your mortgage.

>
> 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).

The devil is in the details on this one. I'm not qualified to comment,
but I favor Paul Krugman's comments on matters like these.

>
> 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.

I'd say _less_ feeling of entitlement, or simply being more realistic
and practical, than workers in Greece and Italy.

AEF