Krugman has this to say about it:

For those not familiar with how financial markets work, US Treasuries are the ultimate safe asset, used as collateral for everything. Even a hint that some Treasuries might not be honored could bring everything to a screeching halt

Musk and Trump are both in the habit of stiffing people they owe money. If markets even suspect that this habit will extend to Treasuries, God help us

  • dis_honestfamiliar
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    1 day ago

    … Trump seems to be basing this on some analysis from the DOGE boys. This appears to have been one of the DOGE boys’ main goals at Treasury, getting access to details about what kinds of payments Treasury makes, the answer being close to everything the U.S. government does outside of the Pentagon and some of the Pentagon stuff too. The Treasury also services the U.S. debt, which is what we’re talking about here. I’m less clear on what access to which part of the Treasury Department these guys could have gotten to get information about how the Treasury Department sells and services Treasury notes. But all that detail aside, imagine thinking that by downloading a ton of data and having a few days to analyze it you could make the determination that a significant amount of the U.S. national debt wasn’t real and didn’t have to be paid. It’s hardly the craziest thing we’ve seen over recent days. But it’s still worth noting how nuts that is.

    I’m lost for words.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      18 hours ago

      I disagree with that author, this is definitely one of the craziest things seen in recent days. This is on par with going to war with Canada as one of the quickest ways to speed run the demise of the US… It probably would be quicker. Debt can be downgraded overnight, war takes time.

      • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        Betting Putin told trump to just take whatever and he’d back trump…if trump lets Putin take Ukraine and the rest of NATO down with it.