I always wonder how much of our travel “sticks” and although our trip to Vietnam was memorable I certainly didn’t think it would shape Deal Kid’s worldview as much as it has. So I was happily surprised when a recent conversation revealed that Deal Kid’s grasp of economics makes him smarter than Donald Trump.
Deal Kid is in 7th grade and usually concerns himself with 7th grade issues- who likes who, when is the new Terraria coming out, and the like. But this year he can’t help get snippets of election coverage- usually from me or his Dad exclaiming “really?” about one news story or another.
Which gets me to Vietnam and Donald Trump. On CNN recently Mr. Trump explained why the US would never default on its debt: ” you never have to default because you print the money”. * Just out of curiosity, I showed Deal Kid the CNN post where this quote occurred and asked his thoughts.
Without missing a beat he exclaimed “That’s so stupid! Isn’t that why 2,000 Dong is like 9 cents?”.
Yes, Deal Kid. Yes, it is.
Have your kids ever crystallized an understanding that you can trace back to your travels? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The Deal Mommy is a proud member of the Saverocity network.
*I’ve tried REALLY hard to stay apolitical on the blog, but this story has more to do with travel than with the actual election. That said, thinking we can print ourselves out of debt is pretty stupid.
That is priceless and you have every right to be proud. Traveling is such a great learning experience and is obviously shaping and adding to his thought process. Thumbs up!
Thanks! Parenting a tween gives rare moments of clarity you can’t get anywhere else.
Not being political here, either, but in fact printing money to pay off debt* (see footnote) is actually what most developed Western economies have been doing since increasing the price of gold in US$ and then Nixon taking the US off the gold standard, so about 80 years now. The latest example is the quantitative easing and negative interest rates utilized in essentially all developed economies over the last decade. Trump is just saying it openly, the polite politicians and central bankers clothe the same point in technical jargon. 1 US$ now buys what approximately 2 cents bought at the end of WW2.
*Indirectly, since the Federal Reserve just creates electronic money, buys US government and government guaranteed debt, and then financial markets increase the price of all other real assets like stocks and real estate to account for their increased value relative to the number of US$ in existence. This allows people who initially borrowed too much relative to their cashflow to buy those assets to now be bailed out of that situation, since the price of those assets is now higher and their associated debt is still the same. It also allows the government to keep issuing debt at low interest rates and claim the interest burden is not too high. Losers are people who save in US$ cash, winners are people who take on lots of debt and buy stocks and prime real estate. One guess as to which category high net worth individuals fall into, and which category mid-low net worth individuals are in.
Note I didn’t say I agree with current policy, either. I’d suggest “The Millionaire Next Door” for another opinion.
I keep a Zimbabwe 100 Trillion dollar bill in my office as a reminder to the dangers
Hi Adam, while we were in Vietnam I showed the kids some Zimbabwe dollars online. That’s a great souvenir that buys what, a loaf of bread?
Nothing overly insightful but after coming back from “Tokyo” at Disney Epcot. My 7 yr old came home pulling out Japanese ingredients out the pantry to make something “new she can try”. Made my heart smile. It’s one of the reasons I pushed up our trip to Japan from 2018 to summer 2017. She’s clearly a fan and by gosh I’m going to get her on one of the Hello Kitty (also a fan) planes one way or another! Japanese food and Hello Kitty. She’ll be in heaven. 😍
Hey, new food is a huge victory in my book!