Get Your Wheel Barrels Ready

[GenSeneca]

China's yuan 'set to usurp US dollar' as world's reserve currency

The Chinese yuan is preparing to overtake the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, economist Nouriel Roubini has warned.

Known as "Dr Doom" for his negative stance, Prof Roubini argues that China is better placed than the US to provide a reserve currency for the 21st century because it has a large current account surplus, focused government and few of the economic worries the US faces.

In a column in the New York Times, Prof Roubini warns that with the proposal for a new international reserve currency via the International Monetary Fund, Beijing has already begun to take steps to usurp the greenback.

China will soon want to see the yuan included in the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights "basket", he warns, as well as seeing it "used as a means of payment in bilateral trade."

Debt: Has skyrocketed to levels that even Obama admits are unsustainable (yet his plan is the same as the Bush plan, spend our way out of debt).

Borrowing: China has stopped buying our long term bonds because they see us circling the drain as a nation and are looking to insulate themselves from a total US collapse.

Monetary Base: China won't buy our debt, so we began monetizing it... that is... we just print it out of thin air. Our monetary base has nearly quadrupled from where it was at this time last year but so far, that inflation has yet to catch up to us. But it will catch up to us.

Entitlement Spending: Medicare and Social Security are going broke faster than projected as a result of the recession. Our outstanding (that's unpaid) obligations to the entitlement programs are between 60 and 90 TRILLION dollars.

Recession: The Obama administration and the Democrat congress think that new taxes and more government spending will fix any problem, not just economic. Such plans have businesses worried for their future and its deepening the recession.

Cap & Trade: Tax and Cripple... they want a 3 trillion dollar tax placed on the energy sector of our already taxed economy, a tax that's paid for by the end user of energy products... That would be you, the consumer. Cap & Trade is a 3 trillion dollar tax on you.

Universal Healthcare: Rising costs of medical expenses are said to be whats creating the problems with so many areas of our economy. Nobody is arguing they are hefty costs, what's at issue is whether the costs are a result of too much government interference or too little. Restrictions on insurers helped drive the cost up exponentially, so has the government refusal to enact tort reform that would limit the ambulance chasers like John "cheated on my wife who's dying of cancer" Edwards (Democrat).

Enacting Universal Healthcare would put unimaginable amounts of power in the hands of beauracrats in Washington and do more to stifle individual liberty than anything the dreaded Patriot has caused... And unlike the Patriot act, there would be no sunset clauses and the damage would be irreversable. Once your neighbor has to foot the bill for your medical care, he's going to start dictating how you live your life.

Not to mention that the same idiots who bankrupted Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare and can't run our country without massive deficits and debt will now be in charge of your healthcare.

Bottom Line: The Policies that we followed over the last 60 years were the recipe for a slow suicide... like smoking or alcoholism... it was going to take a long time for us to die. The recent policies that have been enacted, and the ones currently on the table, are a heroin addiction and crack habit on top of our smoking and alcoholism... There needs to be an intervention.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Uhhhhhhh....which part of (whatever) wheel is the "barrel"???

​

 

[Mare Tranquillity]

Uhhhhhhh....which part of (whatever) wheel is the "barrel"???

​

Better wheel barrels than gun barrels, eh, Shaman? The term is "wheelbarrow".

 

[bododie]

Shaman doesn't appear to understand the concept of printing useless money, like his buds in Zimbabwe are doing, and the idea that one will need a "wheelbarrow" to carry as much money as needed to buy say, a loaf of bread.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Shaman doesn't appear to understand the concept of printing useless money, like his buds in Zimbabwe are doing....

They ARE??!!!!!!!!!



HEY YOU BUDS.......

.....CUT THAT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Ya' can't leave 'em alone....even for 1 minute. )​

 

[PLC1]

China's yuan 'set to usurp US dollar' as world's reserve currency


Debt: Has skyrocketed to levels that even Obama admits are unsustainable (yet his plan is the same as the Bush plan, spend our way out of debt).

Borrowing: China has stopped buying our long term bonds because they see us circling the drain as a nation and are looking to insulate themselves from a total US collapse.

Monetary Base: China won't buy our debt, so we began monetizing it... that is... we just print it out of thin air. Our monetary base has nearly quadrupled from where it was at this time last year but so far, that inflation has yet to catch up to us. But it will catch up to us.

Entitlement Spending: Medicare and Social Security are going broke faster than projected as a result of the recession. Our outstanding (that's unpaid) obligations to the entitlement programs are between 60 and 90 TRILLION dollars.

Recession: The Obama administration and the Democrat congress think that new taxes and more government spending will fix any problem, not just economic. Such plans have businesses worried for their future and its deepening the recession.

Cap & Trade: Tax and Cripple... they want a 3 trillion dollar tax placed on the energy sector of our already taxed economy, a tax that's paid for by the end user of energy products... That would be you, the consumer. Cap & Trade is a 3 trillion dollar tax on you.

Universal Healthcare: Rising costs of medical expenses are said to be whats creating the problems with so many areas of our economy. Nobody is arguing they are hefty costs, what's at issue is whether the costs are a result of too much government interference or too little. Restrictions on insurers helped drive the cost up exponentially, so has the government refusal to enact tort reform that would limit the ambulance chasers like John "cheated on my wife who's dying of cancer" Edwards (Democrat).

Enacting Universal Healthcare would put unimaginable amounts of power in the hands of beauracrats in Washington and do more to stifle individual liberty than anything the dreaded Patriot has caused... And unlike the Patriot act, there would be no sunset clauses and the damage would be irreversable. Once your neighbor has to foot the bill for your medical care, he's going to start dictating how you live your life.

Not to mention that the same idiots who bankrupted Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare and can't run our country without massive deficits and debt will now be in charge of your healthcare.

Bottom Line: The Policies that we followed over the last 60 years were the recipe for a slow suicide... like smoking or alcoholism... it was going to take a long time for us to die. The recent policies that have been enacted, and the ones currently on the table, are a heroin addiction and crack habit on top of our smoking and alcoholism... There needs to be an intervention.

This is just more evidence that the US is on its way off of the world stage as a leader and as a "superpower" (whatever that is supposed to mean), and that China is ready and willing to take its place.

The best we can hope for is that the transition will be smooth and peaceful, and that we'll settle in to our new role with a minimum of fuss and bother.

 

[Dr.Who]

If all goes well Americans will see this for what it is and the pendulum will swing, not back the other way, but toward conservatism and constitutionalism.

 

[Andy]

This is just more evidence that the US is on its way off of the world stage as a leader and as a "superpower" (whatever that is supposed to mean), and that China is ready and willing to take its place.

The best we can hope for is that the transition will be smooth and peaceful, and that we'll settle in to our new role with a minimum of fuss and bother.

Not possible. America's super power status and military, have been a stabilizing influence the world over. As we decline, and at this rate there's no doubt we will, there will be challengers. It just depends on where, and to what extent.

 

[GenSeneca]

This is just more evidence that the US is on its way off of the world stage as a leader and as a "superpower" (whatever that is supposed to mean), and that China is ready and willing to take its place.

The best we can hope for is that the transition will be smooth and peaceful, and that we'll settle in to our new role with a minimum of fuss and bother.

As a superpower, we make the rules, and set the standards, that we expect the rest of the world to follow. If China takes our place, its going to be a dark, scary world for your kids and grandkids.

Exactly what do you envision our "new role" as being?

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Not possible. America's super power status and military, have been a stabilizing influence the world over.

Yeah, Skippy.....it's been a long, proud tradition.....

​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

As a superpower, we make the rules, and set the standards, that we expect the rest of the world to follow.

Yeah.....whether-they-liked-it-or-not.

The Bushes sold it as "compassionate-conservatism".

​

 

[PLC1]

As a superpower, we make the rules, and set the standards, that we expect the rest of the world to follow. If China takes our place, its going to be a dark, scary world for your kids and grandkids.

Exactly what do you envision our "new role" as being?

Military might does not make a superpower. Economic might makes a superpower.

What might our new role be? We may emerge as a larger Argentina, having stabilized our monetary unit, but not having the economic power to be a world leader.

The alternative, of course, is to seek fiscal responsibility in Washington, but who is even suggesting such a thing?

We may have a few years left, but it looks like the US is beginning to rot from the inside, like a valley oak, while China is like a giant sequoia.

The valley oak is a tree native to California. It lives for around three centuries, and becomes a magnificent, large tree with spreading branches. For all of its long life, it nourishes animal life of all kinds. It is a giving tree.

After the first couple of centuries, it is a great thing in decline: Branches rot from the inside and fall off. Large branches sometimes lie supine on the ground, still attached to the whole, but unable to stand on their own. Once its life is over, it gradually crumbles to the ground, leaving rich soil for the next generation.

The sequoia is still young at three centuries. After ten, it is between youth and middle age. Like the oak, it grows to a magnificent huge and beautiful thing, but, unlike the oak, it gives very little. A few birds and squirrels might eke out a meager living on its tiny seeds, but it is the oak that feeds the bears, deer, wild pigs, squirrels, and birds. It is the oak that once fed the human inhabitants of this great state.

Unlike the oak, that has a strong root system but tends to rot from the inside, the sequoia has a shallow root system. After thirty centuries or so, having outlived the oak by a factor of ten, it falls in one great cataclysmic event, crushing anything that is in its way. It then lies there for more centuries before finally rotting away at last.

Maybe we can hold on for a while yet, but the oak will never outlast the sequoia.

 

[Dr.Who]

The alternative, of course, is to seek fiscal responsibility in Washington, but who is even suggesting such a thing?

Ron Paul?

 

[BigRob]

The Chinese yuan is preparing to overtake the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, economist Nouriel Roubini has warned.

Known as "Dr Doom" for his negative stance, Prof Roubini argues that China is better placed than the US to provide a reserve currency for the 21st century because it has a large current account surplus, focused government and few of the economic worries the US faces.

In a column in the New York Times, Prof Roubini warns that with the proposal for a new international reserve currency via the International Monetary Fund, Beijing has already begun to take steps to usurp the greenback.

China will soon want to see the yuan included in the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights "basket", he warns, as well as seeing it "used as a means of payment in bilateral trade."

The Chinese hoard US dollars so they can undervalue their own currency in an attempt to ensure that exports look appealing to the rest of the world. Many economists have argued that China has to grow around 10% just to keep up with the workforce every year. Therefore, when we see China grow at 6% in a recession, that could equate to -4% from the Chinese perspective.

You have seen already agitation in China that job creation is not keeping up with demand. If the government cannot spur massive growth in China, I think their days are limited, and we will see some serious reform.

That said, how do you know when American empire is dead? I would argue a good way is when we can no longer obtain credit. For all the money we are spending (and yes all the problems that this creates) we are still able to get credit.

China knows this is a two way street. Pushing for reform away from the dollar means we will just borrow or print elsewhere, devaluing their current reserves and upsetting their own export numbers, which the government relies on to survive in my view. I think the Chinese might make some noise on this issue, but if push comes to shove, they would back down.

 

[GenSeneca]

That said, how do you know when American empire is dead? I would argue a good way is when we can no longer obtain credit. For all the money we are spending (and yes all the problems that this creates) we are still able to get credit.

Credit from whom and for how much longer?

China Losing Taste for Debt From U.S.

“All the key drivers of China’s Treasury purchases are disappearing — there’s a waning appetite for dollars and a waning appetite for Treasuries, and that complicates the outlook for interest rates,” said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist in the Hong Kong office of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

And we're totally screwed if we loose our AAA rating...

America’s triple A rating is at risk

Long before the current financial crisis, nearly two years ago, a little-noticed cloud darkened the horizon for the US government. It was ignored. But now that shadow, in the form of a warning from a top credit rating agency that the nation risked losing its triple A rating if it did not start putting its finances in order, is coming back to haunt us.

That warning from Moody’s focused on the exploding healthcare and Social Security costs that threaten to engulf the federal government in debt over coming decades. The facts show we’re in even worse shape now, and there are signs that confidence in America’s ability to control its finances is eroding.