We have all heard about the “good cop, bad cop” negotiating strategy. How about the “bad cop, psycho cop” strategy?
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Paul Krugman wrote a thread about this on BlueSky today.
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Interesting that he compared the Dollar to the use of English language. The previous dominance of the GBP did not prevent it’s replacement by the USD.
Interestingly the nativist roots of the USian movement has, for years, advocated making it illegal, for anyone, to transact business with the US government in any language except English. Want Medicaid? Apply in English. Want food stamps? Apply in English.
What “rational” thinkers miss, is the nativist movement in the US is grounded in the replacement theory, making straight, white, Christian, people out as victims. Fox Noise has promoted the “war on Christmas” narrative for decades. I have posted before, the clip of Bill O’Reilly asserting that (others) are conspiring to “destroy the white male power structure”. I have mentioned before how, maybe 15 years ago, the national evening “news” breathlessly reporting that white people were on trend to be less than 50% of the US population. Six months to a year later, the “news” reported, with equal shock and alarm, that Protestants were on trend to be less than 50% of the population.
These forces and narratives have been leveraged to create a siege mentality in the base, that will endure hardship, to reassert white supremacy in the US, and USian supremacy in the world.
All it took was someone to play the role of Churchill.
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Funny, I was just talking about this phony ‘war’ with a close friend who has been observing this phenomenon for a while.
No one hears any Christmas music anymore, it’s always holiday music, right? “Have a very, merry holiday”, “have a holly, jolly, holiday”, “have yourself a merry little holiday”, “I’ll be home for holiday”, “I’m dreaming of a white holiday” [admittedly, this latter tune is a favorite among a certain crowd, though].
Yeah, the war on Christmas is such a real thing. 
Pete
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Seems half the people in the US believe it. That is what counts. The fourth highest rated TV outlet, broadcast, cable, and broadband, combined, has no “reality” shows, no game shows, no cop/fireman/paramedic shows. Just propaganda 24/7.
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Before the English controlled the world there was the Spanish, and the Portuguese, and the Italians, and…
Nothing is forever, but each one of those empires was ended by war, which put their economies in tatters and paved the way for a stronger economy to take its place as the world standard.
That, to paraphrase what Krugman is saying, is the network effect. You transact in dollars because it’s easiest to transact in dollars and because everybody else transacts in dollars (slight exaggeration but you get the point.)
At some point there was MySpace, then Rupert bought it and insisted on throwing a bazillion ads up, just at the moment when Facebook appeared with a modestly cleaner app. You really have to work hard to screw up the network effect, Rupert did it, and I think Elon is trying his best right now with his new toy, and I won’t be surprised if BlueSky is the recipient of his largesse.
Someday the dollar will fall, too, but we’d have to really mess up for that to happen. Of course we just had an election, so…
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As offered here before, the election, and the moment that drove the result, could be a rear guard action to try and stop trends that have been in place for a few decades now. I remember a comment, decades ago, about the US being “a pitiful, helpless, giant”. With both our industrial base, and financial strength, hollowed out, over recent decades, you start to wonder. We can’t finance our self. We can’t make everything we need. We are dependent on the good will of others. Lulled into complacency by Milton Friedman’s assurances that offshoring everything to where labor is cheaper, is the wise thing to do.
Ah, the net is a wonderful thing.
If, when the chips are down, the world’s most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world.
https://sites.temple.edu/immerman/president-nixons-speech-on-cambodia-april-30-1970/
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That this House welcomes the formation of a Government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion.
I can guess who is playing the Germans this time.
Supply side economics is in central Europe. The British banks in part moved to Frankfurt with Brexit.
TFG wants Americans who live overseas to pay less in US taxes. He is paying capital to move. It will end up in Central Europe.
Now he has other thoughts for the BRICS?
No he has set up an excuse for tariffs. He has not set up a goal to make.
The Euro will rival the USD as the reserve currency.
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This policy is reasonable. The US and Eritrea (East Africa) are the only two countries that tax world wide income of their citizens and PRs.
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Do Irish citizens pay taxes in both countries?
Ireland has tax treaties with more than 70 countries. These Double Taxation Agreements ensure that income that has been taxed in one country is not taxed again in another country.
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I don’t know about Irish citizens but American citizens living in Ireland are exposed to US taxes and it seems Irish taxes. Likely an Irish citizen in the US probably only pays US taxes. Most countries follow that model, if you are expatriated, you pay the taxes in the country you live only.
Does Santa Claus appear in the Bible? In many parts of the world gifts are brought from afar on January 6 by the Three Magi but not from the North Pole, on camels, not on a sled pulled by reindeer. The question asked, "What did the Christ Child bring you?
Merry Xmas!
The Captain
as a kid had a lot of fun making a Snowman in Caracas out of chicken wire, toilet paper, and cotton wool as part of our Xmas home decoration…
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Venezuela uses the Yogi Berra rule, it taxes worldwide income in theory but not in practice.
The Captain
Venezuela’s case is a bit different than what I am talking about, also may confuse the case of what was mentioned above. Technically, if you are a resident of Venezuela your income regardless of where you make it is taxed. But if you are not a resident, only your income from Venezuela is taxed. At least as I understand it from a KPMG document.
So if you leave, you are not taxed on income you make outside of Venezuela. US has the best of both worlds… it taxes you on your world wide income regardless if you earn it inside the US or outside the US and regardless if you are a resident of the US or not… for citizens and PRs.
Thanks for clearing that up, not something I knew!
The Captain
Perhaps the story tellers at the time realised it’d take a while for the credulous to swallow one preposterous tale as gospel (so to speak) before slipping another unbelievable character into the lineup?
Great question.
The war on bull is never ending and very offensive to those spreading the bull.
100 years from now we will all be praying to Disney’s Goofy. Why not? The movie will be titled, “It’s a Goofy Xmas For Love”. If you live long enough you will see the dream come true. Merchandise in the lobby.
The real goof will let that go to his head. LOL
That would be everyone who does not bend the knee.
Steve
That is about the cannon theory.
The Germans are here looking outward.