Government’s pockets thinning, I thought tax cuts increased revenue

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

W The idea of a BRICS, with a dash of House of Saud and maybe a couple others, currency is no longer as far fetched as previously predicted possible by 2050 (Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear) as it was just a a few shorts years ago.

I thought this was hypothetical, like is it possible aliens visited earth. I should Google before I start to type.

Russia's pushing the idea for obvious reasons. Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, wants it.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/24...-russia-china/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/worl...on-membership/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...&sref=S4w8QtEt

Here's what Lula said about a month back,

“Why can’t an institution like the BRICS bank have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and all the other BRICS countries?” he said. “Who decided that the dollar was the (trade) currency after the end of gold parity?”

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Tiny

You forgot Saudi Arabia, from WYID's post.

Actually, I forgot South Africa. They're the "S" in "BRICS" not Saudi Arabia. Just to illustrate how little those 5 countries have in common (other than a common distaste for US dollar hegemony), consider the fact that they didn't even invent the grouping on their own. The term BRICS was actually coined by a Goldman Sachs economist (Jim O'Neill) back in 2001. At the time, he was lumping together the fastest-growing "emerging" economies for global investors to focus on. Eventually those countries got together and agreed to start holding annual "summits" beginning in 2009.

BRICS has never been a serious trade bloc like the EU or ASEAN. They're more akin to a loose grouping like the G-7. They set up a nascent development bank in 2015. Eight years later it has approved loans for projects totaling a mere $15 billion. Since 2015 they've also been talking about launching an alternative to SWIFT. You would think this project would have been accelerated after Russia was kicked out of SWIFT for invading Ukraine. But as far as I can tell, Russia, China, India and Brazil have each set up their own individual payment systems, instead of agreeing to use a common one.

I'll try to give a fuller answer to your question later.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Tiny

I thought this was hypothetical, like is it possible aliens visited earth. I should Google before I start to type.

Russia's pushing the idea for obvious reasons. Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, wants it.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/24...-russia-china/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/worl...on-membership/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...&sref=S4w8QtEt

Here's what Lula said about a month back,

“Why can’t an institution like the BRICS bank have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and all the other BRICS countries?” he said. “Who decided that the dollar was the (trade) currency after the end of gold parity?”

Yeah, Lula is steering Brazil hard & fast to the left. He's a shit-stirring rascal. He recently sucked up to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by telling him the US is prolonging the fighting in Ukraine by sending weapons to Kiev.

Huh?

How does our sending weapons to a country seeking to defend itself against a brutal, unprovoked invasion make us the bad guy?? What a fucking jackass.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Tiny

The USA and Europe have confiscated Russia's foreign reserves to the extent they could, and are debating spending them on the reconstruction of Ukraine. So the Russians are likely to see hundreds of billions in dollar and Euro financial assets go up in smoke. Some Russian financial institutions have been banned from SWIFT, and the USA and Europe have otherwise made it difficult for the Russians to transact in the dollar and the Euro.

China sees the writing on the wall, and is moving money out of dollars, perhaps with a view towards invading Taiwan some day. Or perhaps just because they rightly believe that would make them less subject to U.S. and European pressure.

You laid out the sequence of recent events well. I did a little googling of my own and stumbled upon this brief but interesting analysis of what a full-fledged US-China economic/financial dustup might look like. It was actually written a year ago.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blog...eign-reserves/

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by lustylad

You laid out the sequence of recent events well. I did a little googling of my own and stumbled upon this brief but interesting analysis of what a full-fledged US-China economic/financial dustup might look like. It was actually written a year ago.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blog...eign-reserves/

I hope that doesn't happen. Like the writer says, it could be economic mutually assured destruction.

I'm probably the only one here who believes this, but globalization did the world a lot of good. I hate seeing it go in reverse.

[Ducbutter]

Originally Posted by 1blackman1

Edited? Maybe youre conflating threads. I may have actually said shit ton but that’s all relative.

Why would I write a check that exceeds what I required to pay. I’ll never. Do that. But I won’t cry paying more as long as we all get stuck doing the same.

I might well be conflating threads. My mistake. Apologies.
I'm glad you make a shit ton of money, btw.
I believe that folks show you what they really believe, not by what they say but what they do. If you really thought you should pay more you would do so. As I said, there is no restriction on what can pay the feds, over and above your taxes. Clearly you think that what you are paying is appropriate.
Yet you object to those who have more doing the very thing you are doing. Of course, everyone who makes more that your shit ton is rich. They have enough and don't need any more. Let us know when you stop trying to aquire wealth.
As for your secretary, does she view you in the same manner as you view those you deem wealthy? I have a hard time believing you are all that investede in her welfare. Hell, you don't even know if she lives in a house or apt. Obviously you've never been to her home. Have you ever sat down with her to structure her pay to take advantage of the system? Position her taxable to be the highest allowable in a particular bracket? Maybe get creative and compensate her in other ways? You haven't mentioned anything like that. Ultimately, you could just pay her more. After all, you make a shit ton.
Look into the Pareto principle. edit:
Part of the principle is old enough to be biblical, ie " To those who have, more will be given,"

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by lustylad

Yeah, Lula is steering Brazil hard & fast to the left. He's a shit-stirring rascal. He recently sucked up to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by telling him the US is prolonging the fighting in Ukraine by sending weapons to Kiev.

Huh?

How does our sending weapons to a country seeking to defend itself against a brutal, unprovoked invasion make us the bad guy?? What a fucking jackass.

It sounds like his leftist ideology is taking precedence over common sense. The USA is a much bigger trading partner for Brazil than Russia, so he should be kissing up to us.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Tiny

Sorry Blackman, TC upped the level of discourse in this thread so that I'm no longer interested in discussing your secretary. Unless she's hot and has big tits.

Gotta agree TC raises the discourse level whenever he posts.

As for Blackman's secretary, she looks pretty hot to me!

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by lustylad

Well, I find the idea of a single BRICs currency to be preposterous. A single currency issued and administered by a single Central Bank for Brazil, Russia, India and China? Replacing the real, ruble, rupee and renminbi all at once?

"C'mon man!"

I can think of 500 reasons that will never happen!

I thought similar about the Euro at the time. The biggest objection being sovereignty. Guess it still is the sticky wicket somewhat. But the currency has panned out even with the aforementioned. The only impediment I would see to a BRICS currency is the same, maybe even a worse aversion for the tyrants of those countries to share power. (and that's significant)

I see BRICS+ as more of a trading block than anything else. Also, I don't view the B in BRICS to be only Brazil. Any other tin-pot Commie in SA would throw in there. Their combined population far exceeds us and the EU. WWPD, (What Would Pakistan Do)? What about those Muslim countries? You know, those ones we don't want to buy oil from...

Affluence has been the differentiator for us though. Shit hole countries just don't disperse wealth to the bottom, nor do they let them acquire or build it. Meanwhile, so how are "we" looking here these days? We uniting or dividing? We viewing the future united in common cause(s)? Is AI going to increase wealth at the bottom or the top? Can we even agree on what is a man versus a woman? What do we actually build here these days? Where do the materials we use to build things reside or come from? Too many questions about our unity.

IMMHO - we won WWII because we were a manufacturing power house and could blend together private industry with government to a common cause, for a common purpose, for a period of time. We have since converted (exported) our manufacturing prowess to slave labor in China and elsewhere, which produces cheap trinkets and pollution, largely unabated. Frankly, I seriously doubt we can come together for much of anything anymore. We (USA) are just that divided and a divided house never wins.

[1blackman1]

Originally Posted by Ducbutter

I might well be conflating threads. My mistake. Apologies.
I'm glad you make a shit ton of money, btw.
I believe that folks show you what they really believe, not by what they say but what they do. If you really thought you should pay more you would do so. As I said, there is no restriction on what can pay the feds, over and above your taxes. Clearly you think that what you are paying is appropriate.
Yet you object to those who have more doing the very thing you are doing. Of course, everyone who makes more that your shit ton is rich. They have enough and don't need any more. Let us know when you stop trying to aquire wealth.
As for your secretary, does she view you in the same manner as you view those you deem wealthy? I have a hard time believing you are all that investede in her welfare. Hell, you don't even know if she lives in a house or apt. Obviously you've never been to her home. Have you ever sat down with her to structure her pay to take advantage of the system? Position her taxable to be the highest allowable in a particular bracket? Maybe get creative and compensate her in other ways? You haven't mentioned anything like that. Ultimately, you could just pay her more. After all, you make a shit ton.
Look into the Pareto principle. edit:
Part of the principle is old enough to be biblical, ie " To those who have, more will be given,"

I won’t for a sec pretend to be rich enough to “not need anymore” or “desirous of not making more (in fact I’m aggressively capitalistic as are my friends, political leanings aside). One of my favorite scenes from a movie is from Money Never Sleeps when the Jake asks Bretton his number and he gave the only answer that made sense to me “more”.

As I stated, I won’t cry if the tax code required me to pay more. I however would never choose to do so since the incentive is actually to not do so and we’re incentivized to actually pay less. As long as the next guy, ceteris paribus, can pay less than me, I’m surely going to attempt as best I can to pay less. But, when we all pay more, I’m not going to be crying about it.

My secretary and paralegal likely don’t think of me as rich. I don’t know what term would be in vogue for 30 something’s (I actually believe she is either 39 or 40 and the paralegal is around 31-32. They are of the age that what they believe is rich are people like the kardashians and folks on reality TV housewives shows. I suspect they see me as wealthy or well off if that’s a term they’d even use these days.

nope, I don’t get into the staffs’ personal lives for various reasons. The main one is that I’m a selfish self serving self involved prick who pays them to work not be part of my family. Now back in the days 20 years ago when you could fuck a secretary or staff (co-workers were definitely the safest) and have a short meaningless affair without blowing up the job or your life, things were different. Those days are long gone so I am far more inclined (and my partners as well) to stay out of anything that might even appear as improper considering the ramifications.

And yes, my paralegal is super hot and whenever I choose a nice young prostitute I take the opportunity to pretend I’m fucking the shit outta her. My secretary . . . Well types well, but I’ll leave fucking her to you guys.

[golferguy55]

If your paralegal is a provider on here then have her pm me 1b1. I have some clients in BR that I need to get out to see. ��

[Texas Contrarian]

I fully agree with lustylad on the feasibility and likely viability of a BRICS currency union. In my view, it will not work and cannot work. I have discussed this with several fund managers recently, so I already have some stuff to pull off the shelf.

In part, here's my take:

Russia is the nation with the strongest incentive to pursue such a union. But wouldn't any of the other BRICS nations be nuts to want to yoke itself to Russia? For starters, the Ukraine war is an utter fiasco, whether or not Russia eventually grinds away by throwing enough resources (and lives) into it to come away with something it can sell to its populace as a "victory." Even if it conquers and occupies Ukraine, the "victory" will look like one of the most Pyrrhic in all of history. If it wants to sustain the "victory," Russia will have to occupy Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of troops and administrators, many of whom will be killed by the Ukrainian resistance for decades to come.

So, the Russian economy is on course to become even more bankrupt than it already is, irrespective of the war's outcome. Under conditions such as those, who's going allow the Russians to exchange into the new "bric" (or whatever it will be called) on terms acceptable to Putin?

And, for that matter, who really wants to be yoked to China, which has a long record of some of the most draconian capital controls and currency rigging in history? No one believes any of the numbers promulgated by the Chinese authorities.

I just think a currency union dominated by two of the most authoritarian, repressive, and non-transparent police states on the planet would be a total fiasco.

And there are other geopolitical and geostrategic reasons that such a currency union could never work.

Although Putin and Xi met in early 2022 and professed "friendship without limits," China views Russia as a second-tier nation that should be one of its vassal states; not as anything resembling a peer ally. Xi wants to exploit all of Russia's natural resources, and especially its oil and gas. Consequently, it will bully Russia in every way possible, and Putin will have little choice other than to acquiesce.

India and China have fought kinetic wars in the past, and a few troops were killed in their little border skirmishes only a couple of years ago. Further, although relations with the US are a little frosty now, India may in the coming years find reasons to cozy up to Washington for a variety of reasons, including trade relationships. This may not play very well in Beijing.

For their part, Brazil and South Africa aren't likely to be happy campers if they're bullied by any of the above, which seems inevitable in the event of a BRICS currency union.

On the other hand, the countries that adopted the euro a quarter of a century ago are parliamentary democracies that for the most part share the same broad geopolitical and national security concerns. Sure, they have little squabbles here and there. But then they kiss, make up, and then get more or less on the same page.

An agreement creating a BRICS common currency would metaphorically look a lot more like what you'd see if a couple headed toward a nasty divorce decided for some zany reason to go into an entrepreneurial venture and form a business partnership.

How well do you think that would work?

[dilbert firestorm]

india really has a good reason to cozy up to US. they can get access to U.S. technology.

they are pursuing a possible purchase of new navy fighter planes; Boeing F18 vs. Dassault Mirage.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by lustylad

Well, I find the idea of a single BRICs currency to be preposterous. A single currency issued and administered by a single Central Bank for Brazil, Russia, India and China? Replacing the real, ruble, rupee and renminbi all at once?

"C'mon man!"

I can think of 500 reasons that will never happen!

Originally Posted by Tiny

You know more about money and the Fed than the rest of us put together, TC excepted. But I'll argue, why not. Like Jews at Masada or Texans at the Alamo, I'll lose.

Originally Posted by Texas Contrarian

I fully agree with lustylad on the feasibility and likely viability of a BRICS currency union. In my view, it will not work and cannot work.

OK, I said I was willing to do a Davy Crockett, and fight to the end at the Alamo. OR (emphasis on "or") do something similar like the Jews at Masada. But I'm not going to take on the Mexicans AND the Roman legions at the same time. I know when I'm about to get my ass kicked. Sayonara amigos!