What if U.S went to war with China?

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by UnknownSaint171, May 9, 2019.

  1. Cream

    Cream Cream

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    Yup, Apple does have more revenue than Microsoft, and by a pretty big margin too.
    • Apple: 265.6B
    • Microsoft: 110.4B
    It'll be interesting to see where these companies go long term, especially as Microsoft has been beating earnings forecasts while Apple has been disappointing investors recently.

    For Apple, their business model of expecting their consumer base to buy a new smartphone every two years has simply become unsustainable. Before in the earlier years of the iPhone, each new generation felt new and exciting, and there were incredible leaps and bounds in the technology. As a consumer, there was more of a "gotta have it" mentality. But now? It's rather lackluster. The jump between the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X didn't really feel that different. The price certainly couldn't be justified. And plus with the battery thing, you could have just payed ~$20 dollars to replace the battery instead of spending $1000 to upgrade the phone.

    Something they have going for them though, is the Apple ecosystem, in that having one product encourage you to buy another product. They do that very very well, and their AirPod sales are proof of that.

    I can't speak on Microsoft too much, but I know that their cloud computing unit is doing very well. That's not really surprising since Amazon's AWS cloud computing has been seeing similarly high levels of profits. The cloud computing sector seems to be a cash cow right now.
    Yeah haha, it certainly was a surprise to me too, especially since I don't live in China, so I never hear about those three Chinese state companies.

    Walmart was a surprise too. In my mind, Walmart was a relic of the brick-and-mortar store past. But now that I think about it, Walmart has made certain moves in order to strategically compete against Amazon. They've entered online retail. They've got in-store pickup. Can't remember what else.
     
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  2. ludagad

    ludagad Addicted to escapist novels

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    US would probably win, then go DEEP into debt and the whole world's economy would crash and burn. Hopefully, the world's population will also take a hit, but probably it won't. The world will only get shittier: people crammed into tiny spaces, almost everyone will be poor, but no one is willing to just drop dead for the sake of the planet. Everyone's struggling to live and fuck, so the world is doomed. Personally, I'm kinda waiting for the Apocalypse. I don't need to survive it, just stick around for a few days to witness the destruction.
    Also, I'd visit any country that has great nature and isn't crowded with tourists and locals, and has no war conflicts or mosquitoes that kill. So, nowhere.
     
  3. AMissingLinguist

    AMissingLinguist [Not Here][Blank Sect][Nuffian #N]

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    Interesting stuff on those economics. I would root for the United States instead of China, if I had to pick a side. Capitalism may not be the best form of a political system, but it's the one I know. Of course, I would rather have world peace than war. I apologize in advance for my naive view of the world.
     
  4. Vanidor

    Vanidor Well-Known Member

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    @Cream After not trolling a few podcasts I broke down and trolled this Peter Schiff podcast.
    It does get into politics as a side of economics so I don't suggest others watch it, it is mainly about economics though like tariffs.

    I played a conservative mildly disdainful of libertarians for once.
     
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  5. Cream

    Cream Cream

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    I'm listening to it right now. Not even 5 minutes in and he brings up gold. You know, I'd really love to see him defend gold when the stock market turns more bull-ish.

    Also he brings up Uber's dropping stock price but doesn't bring up their billions of operating losses each year? That's surprising lol

    The tariff thing... at this point it just feels like the American version of Brexit in that both sides have been dragging out the issue for way too long.

    I'll say more when I finish lol.
     
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  6. Vanidor

    Vanidor Well-Known Member

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    Uber, Amazon, Tesla were all companies he's disliked for not making profits in other podcasts, so it isn't a new rant just him. This was more him 'briefly gloating' is perhaps the best way to put it. He also gloats whenever Bitcoin goes down and is 'confused' when it goes up, especially when it goes up instead of gold.
     
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  7. Cream

    Cream Cream

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    Ahh I see.

    By the way, I was reading the Youtube comments and this one by goldenboypierre cracked me up:
    [​IMG]
    If a 50-60% correction happens, and interest rates go to 8-10% too, the US economy might just implode. At that point, it isn't even a correction anymore. It's a crash. And the Fed wouldn't raise interest rates if there really was a 50-60% correction. They'd be lowering it. -_-

    But yeah, I can see how he's a fearmonger. He went on a long rant somewhere in the middle, only to conclude that consumer prices of energy and food would skyrocket (of course along with gold). Then he brings out the 2021 socialists. (Ooo spooky). His podcast should be renamed to "Why the Economy is Going to Implode and How Gold Can Save You From That Demise."

    Also I'm doubting his comment about that environmentalist on the jury panel for the Monsanto case. When you go through the legal process, there is a step called voir dire where prospective jurors are questioned about their backgrounds and potential biases. I doubt the Monsanto lawyers would have let the environmentalist pass voir dire. In the United States, both plaintiff and defendant can reject an unlimited number of prospective jurors, and Monsanto would have undoubtedly rejected the environmentalist. In the end, both plaintiff and defendant have to agree to every juror.

    The bitcoin comments are funny to read.
     
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  8. cap.toon

    cap.toon Well-Known Member

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    I think Walmart needs work, especially their search engine. It is hard to filter and hard to separate the sold by Walmart from sold by another store.

    As far as I know, wars in the past has boost the economic. But America has so much debt loaned from China that I believe if America do go into war with China, the debt thing would be an incentive. If you can't pay the debt back, kill the loan shark. However, if this do happen the future war is not going to be fought like the past. We could be homeless--I mean planet-less. Who knows what kind of technologies both governments have. But I think this would not happen because the elites behind the spotlight won't let it. They are too greedy to let stupid governments destroy their yet to obtain "world order."

    People are crammed into tiny places not because there is no land, but because they are easier to control in masses and in fear.
     
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  9. Cream

    Cream Cream

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    I'm not too familiar with Walmart's search engine, but if it's bad, that could be a huge limitation.

    I also think another weakness of theirs is brand image. When people say online shopping, they think Amazon. Walmart might be the last thing to come to mind.
    Eh... this one is contestable. Wars might boost the economy in the short run because of increased government spending. But think about it, war essentially destroys wealth. In war, your nation might see a lot of infrastructure wiped out. Roads and buildings and people are destroyed.

    But even if the war is not being fought on your land, it still isn't that good due to idea of opportunity cost. We could have been using the war money for other things, like investing in capital that would yield returns in the future. We could have been improving schools or making healthcare more affordable with that money.

    War is a tricky thing though, and I'm sure there are caveats to what I've said, such as the US during World War II.