Post AymamiuZBHZd8CM8VE by phil_stevens@mastodon.nz
 (DIR) More posts by phil_stevens@mastodon.nz
 (DIR) Post #AymamiuZBHZd8CM8VE by phil_stevens@mastodon.nz
       2025-10-02T00:54:50Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       I've had a gutsfull of the oft-repeated #NZPol catchphrase making the rounds currently about how "dairy is keeping the economy afloat."Effluent. That's all it is. The bulk of those record payouts are going into paying down debt. Y'all know what that does, right?Decreases the amount of money in circulation.Every dollar repaid on principal to a bank leaves the money supply forever. It's the extinguishment of currency that was created when the bank funded the loan. And every dollar paid in interest goes into the bank's profit margin (and nearly all of it leaves the country in short order).Politicians and commentators who don't understand how money works tell plausible-sounding lies, and all the while we are deprived of vital liquidity that would keep business afloat and people in work.And even if the farming sector were spending up large and providing a retail boost, it's more than negated by the poisoning of our freshwater and the costs that brings.
       
 (DIR) Post #AymaoffsBeiTffPbto by lightweight@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-10-02T01:07:18Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @phil_stevens fascinating - I hadn't thought about debt repayment like that...
       
 (DIR) Post #Ayme5kqAX5IuTk47W4 by phil_stevens@mastodon.nz
       2025-10-02T01:44:03Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @lightweight The basic principles of money are understood by so few that it's downright frightening. Even bankers don't understand...I had a row with someone who has worked in commercial banking for many years when he tried to gild the lily of what he called "the miracle of fractional reserve" and I said "you mean state-sanctioned fraud."
       
 (DIR) Post #AymeFe1iijmIF5BV7w by lightweight@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-10-02T01:45:56Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @phil_stevens sorta like my views on so called 'intellectual property', I suppose. Very few get this stuff, even (especially) those with decision making power... Sad to see another example of the horrible fit between a domain and those practicing/managing/regulating it. Big sigh.