Don't know about y'all, but I'm not looking to the East for US Sovereign Economic salvation.
I am looking for Americans in the political realm in particular this season, who understand that if it isn't grown, then it's mined.
Wouldn't it be nice if we got back to the basics in this nation?
Palin understands this, and has managed to make a contribution not only to the Alaskan economy but also the dialogue. And I'm glad she's going to have the opportunity for some national on the job, hands on guidance before running in 2012.
No foreign policy experience? What? Oil, Mining, Fishing, Hunting, food gathering, these are all POLITICAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY areas.
Read this from a 20 something young foreign correspondent columnist in the UK TELEGRAPH t'day.
He obviously doesn't get it. But his math is real good. -g-
Malcom Moore
U.K. Telegraph Columnist.
Financial crisis: will China help?
Story Filled in "Foreign Correspondents" on Sep 23, 08
The $1.8 trillion of foreign exchange reserves held by China are still largely denominated in greenbacks and there must be some horror in Beijing at the plans put forward by the Fed. Alex Patelis, an economist at Merrill Lynch, has put together a handy list of what the US is planning to spend:
1. Treasury buying mortgage-related assets: $700bn
2. Potential supplementary stimulus package favoured by Democrats: $100bn
3. Insuring money market funds: $50bn
4. Treasury fortifying the Fed's balance sheet: $100bn
5. Expansion of temporary swap lines with central banks: $180bn
6. Loan to AIG: $85bn
7. Fed purchase of agency discount notes & ABCP: amount not specified
8. Fed loans through the Primary Dealer Credit Facility: $20bn through sep 17
9. Fed's discount window: $33bn balance
10. Treasury purchase of GSE MBS this month: $10bn
11. Potential cost of Fannie/Freddie bailout: $200-$300bn
With a neat symmetry, the $1.5 trillion-or-so total is what some people believe the Iraq war will end up costing.
As investors bail out of the dollar, China's mandarins will have lost (yet more) face with their public for their poor investment decisions. And there will be serious economic consequences. Just as the US threatens to slump into recession, Chinese-made goods will become more expensive for American consumers.
Since China's economy is still strongly dependent on exports, there may be a painful knock-on effect. Stephen Green, an economist at Standard Chartered, has already significantly marked down his estimates for growth in the next two years.
So if Chinese government officials are not keen on wading even further into the mire of Wall Street, who can blame them? |
