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Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 3, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I'm inclined to agree, but wouldn't China be a counterexample?

With a lack of productive investments, excess Chinese savings were dumped into unproductive real estate speculation. This is going badly for them.

Here in the U.S., we also have a lack of productive investments. Witness the explosion in meme stocks, crypto, property values, and the price of random shit like collectible cards during the pandemic. This was exacerbated by the extreme level of excess savings during the pandemic (now being helpfully unwound by inflation). But, as you point out, the Federal Reserve can fix this.

Ultimately, we'd never know until it was tried. Odds are, it's very unlikely to be worse than our current corrupt and Byzantine system.