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Repudiate Progressive-Government Debt in Quick, Certain Steps

Progressives use government debt to increase their control over us, including by taking property from people who add value.

James Anthony
November 12, 2021

Government spending is now being fueled both by taxes and by debt [1].

Once, government could be limited by limiting taxes. Now, government can only be limited by also limiting debt.

Government Doesn’t Repay, It Defaults

Currently, nominal interest payments are being made forever [2].

Slow default is taking place at the same time. Relentlessly inflating the money supply makes the debt’s nominal interest and principal each relentlessly become worth far less than was originally promised, and approach real values of zero [3]. This is slow theft.

Sudden default is certainly possible. If Progressives were in control from the start of the borrowing to the finish, sudden default would be sudden theft.

Repudiation is the best approach: show that the existing debt contracts are unlawful, and stop payment [4].

Pledging the Forgotten Men’s Property

Progressive-government debt is built up by politicians [5], bureaucrats, and cronies. Politicians get votes using spending and contributions. Bureaucrats and cronies get spending and more favors.

The spending and more favors both unconstitutionally deprive us of property without due criminal or civil process [6].

The processes used also are unconstitutional: exercising powers not enumerated for the national government [7], combining separated powers into single organizations [8], and delegating lawmaking power [9].

Even if voters get small fractions of the spending pushed their way, it doesn’t benefit them on net [10]. They get obligated to service far-more debt-fueled spending that doesn’t benefit them.

Also, voters have no say in the spending. Both major parties let Progressives run [11], both use uninformative primaries [12], and both use donations to prop up unpopular Progressives. The result is that Progressives keep getting elected in supermajorities in legislatures [13] and keep getting elected nearly every time to executive offices. This system is self-sustaining, and its lock on all these elective offices has been nearly complete throughout the Progressives’ century-plus [14].

The debt-fueled lawless spending benefits Progressives, and the debt obligation is lawlessly assigned to people who add value.

The resulting debt should all be repudiated [15].

Repudiate Ethically and in Quick Steps

Ideally, change is fast and extensive [16]. Fast change limits incumbents’ power to block changes for the better, like repudiation. And change for the better produces better results, which builds political support that holds the changes in place a long time.

But investment advisors have been lulled into treating government bonds as offering returns free of default risk, and as largely taking the place of money. Businesses’ finance officers have been allowed to shortsightedly treat government bonds the same [10].

This puts constitutionalist lawmakers in a hostage situation. If they would suddenly repudiate the governments’ unlawful debts, otherwise-solvent retirees would be ruined. Otherwise-sound businesses might not meet payrolls, not finish their work in process, and fail.

Ideally, repudiation should protect the persons who aren’t Progressive cronies, and should leave exposed the persons who are Progressive cronies.

Repudiation can approach this ideal if it’s done in three steps separated by two very-small delays:

Step 0: Freeze Debt.

Step 1: Repudiate Interest except for USA Retirees.

Step 2: Repudiate Principal except for USA Retirees.

The steps should be enacted all at once and separated by intervals of just one month, which are quick enough to demand action, and slow enough to allow action.

First, Controlled Demolition

Step 0: Freeze Debt.
Immediately set the debt limit equal to the current debt.

  • The president will triage spending based on the constitutionality of the scope, the constitutionality of the way that scope is currently performed, and whether the spending is on a grandfathered obligation. The only sacrosanct spending will be the grandfathered existing obligations, plus enumerated scope that going forward will be executed constitutionally and at minimum scale. Most government employees will be laid off [17], and most crony businesses and crony nonprofits will receive near-zero spending.
  • The president will freeze the government bonds that are held by USA retirees through pension funds, through insurance companies, and directly.
  • The remaining government bonds’ prices will start falling.
  • Gross domestic product will fall by the amount of spending that previously was fueled by debt.
  • Household net worths [10] and business market capitalizations will start falling.
  • Businesses will start generating cash to meet future cash-flow needs.
  • Interest rates will start rising.
  • Product prices will start falling.

Step 1: Repudiate Interest except for USA Retirees.
Establish that interest will not be paid on the unfrozen debt that’s outstanding.

  • The president will pay interest on the frozen government bonds held by USA retirees.
  • The remaining government bonds’ prices will keep falling.
  • Household net worths and business market capitalizations will keep falling.
  • Businesses will keep generating cash to meet future cash flow needs.
  • Interest rates will keep rising.
  • Product prices will keep falling.

Step 2: Repudiate Principal except for USA Retirees.
Establish that repayment will not be made on the unfrozen debt that’s outstanding.

  • The president will pay back the principal of the frozen government bonds held by USA retirees. He will do this when business activity stabilizes asset prices, so that the money required to do this can be generated by selling government assets at prices that reflect their value going forward in private uses.
  • The remaining government bonds’ prices will be zero.
  • Household net worths and business market capitalizations will settle out lower.
  • Product prices will settle out lower.
  • Interest rates will settle out higher.
  • People will start rebuilding lost savings and then saving more.
  • Businesses that add value will forecast faster growth, will start investing in new projects, and will start hiring former government employees and former crony employees.

Overall, the unsustainable consumptive spending will end, sustainable productive investment will increase [18], and the people who had been doing what they saw fit will start doing what customers are willing to pay for.

Later, Far-Better Satisfaction

Products will be produced under fuller control by customers, with efficient value adding by more employees, so customers’ desires will be satisfied better.

Competition will be won not by adding votes but by adding value [19]. Competition to add value will be tougher. Businesses will more-quickly get better at adding value. Business market capitalizations and household net worths will grow faster.

Government debt will remain saleable in the event that an enemy attacks and people reckon that riskier debt is worth buying in exchange for more government-furnished security.

Continued Denial Just Increases the Deprivations

This isn’t a choice of either honoring debt or not honoring debt. Already now, the debt interest and debt principal are both systematically being defaulted on gradually. Also, both are systematically being increased, increasing the risk that they could be defaulted on suddenly.

This is a choice to stop further enabling government coercion, and to stop paying government cronies to help government do that.

We can make this choice deliberately now, while each of us is still at his peak remaining health. Or we can let circumstances make this choice for us later, when each of us is far-less healthy so we will be far-more vulnerable to war [20] and to other tyrannies.

The best time to change for the better is always as soon as possible.

References

  1. Onge, Peter. “What If the US Defaults Next Week?” CryptoEconomy, 26 Sep. 2021, cryptoeconomy.substack.com/p/what-if-the-us-defaults-next-week. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  2. Reed, Eric. “What Is the National Debt Year by Year from 1790 to 2019?” TheStreet, 26 Feb. 2019, www.thestreet.com/politics/national-debt-year-by-year-14876008. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  3. Siegel, Jeremy J. “Stocks, Bonds and Future Returns.” May 2016, cdn.ymaws.com/www.fpadfw.org/resource/resmgr/SYMPOSIUM2016_HANDOUTS/JeremySiegel_Handout.pdf#page=3. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  4. Rogers Hummel, Jeffrey. “Some Possible Consequences of a U.S. Government Default.” Econ Journal Watch, vol. 9, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 24-40.
  5. Hansen, Kristoffer Mousten. “The Economics and Ethics of Government Default, Part I.” Mises Wire, 23 Feb. 2021, mises.org/wire/economics-and-ethics-government-default-part-i. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  6. USA Constitution, amend. 5.
  7. Diamond, Martin. “The Forgotten Doctrine of Enumerated Powers.” Publius, vol. 6, no. 4, Autumn 1976, pp. 187-93.
  8. Anthony, James. “On the Reading of Old Constitutions.” rConstitution.us, 9 Oct. 2021, rconstitution.us/on-the-reading-of-old-constitutions/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  9. Lawson, Gary. “Delegation and Original Meaning.” Virginia Law Review, vol. 88, no. 2, Apr. 2002, pp. 327-404.
  10. Hansen, Kristoffer Mousten. “The Economics and Ethics of Government Default, Part III.” Mises Wire, 5 Apr. 2021, mises.org/wire/economics-and-ethics-government-default-part-iii. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  11. Anthony, James. The Constitution Needs a Good Party: Good Government Comes from Good Boundaries. Neuwoehner Press, 2018, pp. 48-9.
  12. Anthony, James. The Constitution Needs a Good Party: Good Government Comes from Good Boundaries. Neuwoehner Press, 2018, p. 52.
  13. Anthony, James. The Constitution Needs a Good Party: Good Government Comes from Good Boundaries. Neuwoehner Press, 2018, p. 4-6.
  14. Rothbard, Murray N. The Progressive Era. Edited by Patrick Newman, Mises Institute, 2017, pp. 163–97.
  15. Rothbard, Murray N. “Repudiating the National Debt.” Chronicles, June 1992, pp. 49-52.
  16. Anthony, James. “Changing Government by Stepping, Phasing, or Doing.” rConstitution.us, 23 Apr. 2021, rconstitution.us/changing-government-by-stepping-phasing-or-doing/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  17. Anthony, James. “The First 1,461 Days of a Constitutionalist President.” rConstitution.us, 8 Jan. 2021, rconstitution.us/the-first-1461-days-of-a-constitutionalist-president/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  18. Huerta de Soto, Jesus. Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles. 4th English ed., Mises Institute, 2020, pp. 506-8.
  19. Anthony, James. “Who Decides: Cronies, or Customers?” rConstitution.us, 28 May 2021, rconstitution.us/who-decides-cronies-or-customers/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.
  20. Harrison, Mark. “The Economics of World War II: An Overview.” The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison, edited by Mark Harrison, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 1-42.

James Anthony is the author of The Constitution Needs a Good Party and rConstitution Papers and has written articles in rConstitution.us, American Greatness, Foundation for Economic Education, American Thinker, and The Federalist. Mr. Anthony is an experienced chemical engineer with a master’s in mechanical engineering.

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