DislikedHi traider,
I don’t think goal of the article was to, as you say: „Suggest that printing will devalue as long as there is capacity for surplus.“ Thats nonscence ofc. I think the only goal of the article was to shout: „They are going to print a lot! Take cover!“
Anyway, printing will devalue currency. Thats just it. As you probably know, then comes the question of exporting and importing economy. And if you are exporter, currency may be shielded from devaluation if you also make surplus. I aint sure if I should write more here as this would...Ignored
I will try to keep this brief or I could be writing for ever.
Firstly, capitalism must devolve to the sum of its parts..namely every country on this planet and all its workers, in other words the momentum of capital is objective and relentless.
Secondly, this process is marked by stop/start or bubble/bust.
Thirdly, this process encapsulates a number of tendencies which include interventionism of the Keynesian variety and even wars to ensure that that momentum is maintained. So seemingly inexplicable behaviours such as easing which appear to defy capital's underlying urge to be unfettered (the free market) are explicable by the core tendency.
Fourthly, all exchange in capitalism is underwritten by the surplus extracted from labour as well as natures bounty, oil. In other words, the transformation of this energy injects value in the process of commodifying otherwise inert objects. This surplus is then encapsulated in the currencies which facilitate the exchange of these commodities. Where there is a disparity between the extracted value and the printing process, the latter exceeding the former, you get inflation. Where there is a disparity with the former exceeding the latter, deflation sets in. (One risk in all of this is terminal stagflation (where the non-core inflates but the core deflates which is possible at the current stage of globalisation....likely when oil, one element of the surplus peaks which is anyones guess so I shant go there as reserves are in inexact science and there is nothing yet to suggest that reserves are at a tipping point other than anecdotal evidence.)
Fifthly, fetishism of the commodities produced is a core part of this process or the exchange mechanism dies, in other words advertising and all the rest of the acculturisation process.
All of the above elements are in play (other than oil's peaking which really is an inexact science in terms of reserves. I am inclined to think that the energy component of capitalism is sound or we would have noted clear signs of decoupling and a retreat into mercantilism which would quickly collapase without capital's value adding by way of secondary mechanisms such as multi-layered assetising as well as the creation of debt.)
Our current crisis is more in the way of an adjustment as capital moves beyond its Cold War regionalism (which is overvalued and skewed) to a new global specialisation armed with a new layer of surplus. The Eurozone specifically reflected a regionalism at its inception but is a regional fortress in a global dynamic. To that extent and for that reason, I am inclined to think that the USD is unassailable until we fully globalise, (which process is still unfolding as we find with events worldwide such as the Middle East and of course, everywhere), whereas the Euro will find its true value in due course.
The road to pipland is arduous and fraught with challenge.
you must be joking
