In which John discusses the US national debt, the federal budget deficit, plans for shrinking or eliminating the deficit, and tries to provide some context to the political rhetoric and statistics that are constantly thrown around in an election season. Along the way, I hope you'll understand why the United States' sovereign debt hasn't led us to an economic crisis, but also why budget deficits need to shrink in order to ensure that credit remains inexpensive and the US continues to enjoy the trust of the world economy. (Friendly reminder: Educational videos, by extensive precedent, are allowed to be longer than 4:00.) Here's why I think the gold standard is a bad idea: 1. By restricting money supply to the supply of gold, you risk shrinking the money supply just because of a shock leading to a disruption in supply from mining. This creates a lot of volatility in the money supply for no reason. 2. The gold standard limits a government's ability to respond to changes in the market, which can (and has) led to unescapable deflationary spirals. 3. Far from inspiring investor confidence, its implementation would crush it: http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/gold-369936-standard-money.html Posters and stuff: http://dftba.com My tumblr: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com My twitter: http://www.twitter.com/realjohngreen HERE ARE A LOT OF LINKS TO NERDFIGHTASTIC THINGS: Shirts and Stuff: http://dftba.com/artist/30/Vlogbrothers Hank's Music: http://dftba.com/artist/15/Hank-Green John's Books: http://amzn.to/j3LYqo ====================== Hank's Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hankgreen Hank's Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hankimon Hank's tumblr: http://edwardspoonhands.tumblr.com John's Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/realjohngreen John's Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johngreenfans John's tumblr: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com ====================== Other Channels Crash Course: http://www.youtube.com/crashcourse SciShow: http://www.youtube.com/scishow Gaming: http://www.youtube.com/hankgames VidCon: http://www.youtube.com/vidcon Hank's Channel: http://www.youtube.com/hankschannel Truth or Fail: http://www.youtube.com/truthorfail ====================== Nerdfighteria http://effyeahnerdfighters.com/ http://effyeahnerdfighters.com/nftumblrs http://reddit.com/r/nerdfighters http://nerdfighteria.info/ A Bunny (( ( - -) ((') (')