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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (15245)	1/1/2002 10:28:51 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

It would be interesting to see what happens if the US$ suffered a vast abandonment for some obscure reason Yeah, but it just ain't going to happen, Maurice. The whole world is converting to a "Dollar economy", because it is the safest currency in the world. It gives us a wonderful advantage, of course, because, as you point out, it allows us to print a lot more money than we could normally get away with without causing inflation here.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (15245)	1/1/2002 11:20:13 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

the USA is as dependent on the economic health of the rest of the world as the rest of the world is dependent on the USA. Maurice.. at the end of WWII, the US economy effectively equated to 50% of the Global GDP. We're now around 30% or so. Historically, the US economy has been at least 80% domestic, and not traditionally dependent upon exports. So will the US be unaffected. Absolutely not. But will we fare better than any of our economic competitors who's exports to the US make up a far larger percentage of their GDP?? Yep. And is the US considered a "safe haven" because of our being sheltered between two separate oceans? Yep. Always has been.... Btw, trade SHOULD be about mutual dependence... but that's not the way it's worked out, has it? They are supposed to buy as much from us as we buy from them, so there are no trade deficits/surpluses, right? But nations like Japan have used structural protectionism and the keiretsu system, and now a weak currency, in order to subsidize their corporations. We can't buy controlling interest in major corporations in Japan or even Europe, but they can come over here and do so. As for holding US debt, I'm not particularly worried. The minute the world stops wanting to hold our debt, we might as well default because the world will ALREADY be on the verge of economic collapse. And that's when I would be looking to buy that yellow shiny metal. Btw, isn't it rather difficult to call the US a "huge debtor" when we have some $4 Trillion in cash CURRENTLY sitting in money markets looking for a home in either equities or bonds? Sure we have debt. But our national debt is one of the most managable around the world... And our personal debt generally goes into things like real-estate, cars, and then credit cards. And even with credit cards, when you have $1 trillion in purchases made with them every year, you have to be careful about the stats. Many people are like my father, who purchases everything with his GM card, so he can receive that discount on his next vehicle. And then he pays off the balance every month. But his purchases still count as "debt" for that month, despite the fact that he has the money to pay cash. So watch how you fling that "debt data" around.. It's more complex than many would have you believe.. Finally, to answer another of your posts, so I can consolidate them: It still irks me when people talk about the 'brilliant' attack on the WTC I've never particularly thought it was "brilliant". It just required 8 individuals who were willing to die for their cause, and the training to carry out their mission. But it was highly efficient, causing $40 Billion in damage for probably less than $500,000 in costs. We're vulnerable to all kinds of wackos.. we just have to face it, and get on with life. Hawk