Before we answer, let’s make one point very clear: The U.S. federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, has the unlimited ability to create U.S. dollars.
It never can run short of dollars. It can pay any bills of any size, instantly, and without collecting a single penny in taxes.
Further, and contrary to the popular myth, federal deficit spending does not cause inflation. Instead, inflations are caused by shortages, most often shortages of food or energy (oil), not by “excessive” federal deficits or debt. (Ironically, shortages often are cured by federal deficit spending.)
Consider Japan, which has a much-derided Debt/GDP of 240%:
America’s debt terrorists would claim that level of debt must lead to inflation.
But Japan’s inflation generally has languished below 1% and often has been below 0%:
In summary, the U.S. government easily could provide a free college education to everyone in America, who wanted one.
So, if a college education benefits not only the students, but everyone in the nation, why doesn’t the U.S. federal government fund college for everyone?
The reason: Our deficit terrorists persist in telling you that despite the American government being Monetarily Sovereign, while the public is monetarily non-sovereign, funding college would be unaffordable for the government.
Oh, really?
How US students get a university degree for free in Germany
By Franz Strasser, BBC News, Germany, 3 June 2015While the cost of college education in the US has reached record highs, Germany has abandoned tuition fees altogether for German and international students alike.
An increasing number of Americans are taking advantage and saving tens of thousands of dollars to get their degrees.
Before we continue with excerpts from the article, keep this in mind: Unlike the U.S. government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for anything, without collecting taxes, the German government is monetarily non-sovereign.
It does not have a sovereign currency. It uses the euro, which is the sovereign currency of the European Union.
When Germany spends, German taxpayers pay.
So why are German taxpayers willing to pay for college, while the American government is not?
Germans have a greater belief in the importance of education than do Americans.
Some Americans believe a college education is an unnecessary, but expensive, form of elitism. They don’t understand that the competitive future of America will be determined by the educated.
Other Americans adopt the “If I had to pay, they should have to pay” attitude, a kind of cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face.
And it hurts us all.
In rural South Carolina one night, Hunter Bliss told his mother he wanted to apply to university in Germany. Amy Hall chuckled, dismissed it, and told him he could go if he got in.
“When he got accepted I burst into tears,” says Amy, a single mother.
“For him to stay here in the US was going to be very costly,” says Amy. “We would have had to get federal loans and student loans because he has a very fit mind and great goals.”
More than 4,600 US students are fully enrolled at Germany universities, an increase of 20% over three years.
At the same time, the total student debt in the US has reached $1.3 trillion (£850 billion).
Health insurance for students in Germany is €80 ($87) a month, much less than what Amy would have had to pay in the US to add him to her plan.
To cover rent, mandatory health insurance and other expenses, Hunter’s mother sends him between $6,000-7,000 each year.
At his nearest school back home, the University of South Carolina, that amount would not have covered the tuition fees.
Even with scholarships, that would have totalled about $10,000 a year. Housing, books and living expenses would make that number much higher.
We interrupt again to remind you that sometimes even a college scholarship isn’t sufficient, when one needs to pay ancillary expenses, and when one must forego a regular paying job.
That is why in the Ten Steps to Prosperity (below), one step is for the government to fund school tuition, and another step is for the government to provide a salary for attending the school.
The financial advantages of studying in Germany have not been lost on other US students. Katherine Burlingame decided to get her Master’s degree at a university in the East German town of Cottbus.
A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Katherine spent less than €500 ($570) a month in Cottbus, which included housing, transportation and healthcare.
On top of that she received a monthly scholarship by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Council) of €750 ($815) which more than covered her costs.
“When I found out that just like Germans I’m studying for free, it was sort of mind blowing,” Katherine says.
“I realized how easy the admission process was and how there was no tuition fee. This was a wow moment for me.”
In the 2014-2015 academic year, private US universities charged students on average more than $31,000 for tuition and fees, with many schools charging well over $50,000.
The lie that federal debt is “unsustainable” “unaffordable,” and somehow immoral, has prevented many thousands of bright, ambitious, future American leaders from fulfilling the destiny that would have benefited them and America.
We cannot know how many potential American scientists, mathematicians, inventors, business leaders, etc. America has lost for lack of education funds. We cannot know what it has cost us as a nation and as individuals.
But we do know this. The cost has been enormous, especially when compared to the zero cost to us of federal spending.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty
Twitter: @rodgermitchell
Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
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The most important problems in economics involve:
- Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
- Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
Ten Steps To Prosperity:
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D, plus long-term care — for everyone
3. Provide a monthly economic bonus to every man, woman and child in America (similar to social security for all)
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
5. Salary for attending school
6. Eliminate federal taxes on business
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually.
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.
9. Federal ownership of all banks
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9%
The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.
MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 