[steveegg]

Let's look at what's really happening. They are sending us goods in return for our money. They then give the money back to us in return for promises to pay later.

They are in essence giving us the goods for nothing. A promise to pay later from a powerful sovereign government is not worth much, especially if the debt is denominated in the debtor's currency.

Do you really want the US Treasury to go down the road of defaulting on debt? One of the main reasons why the US economy is respected (and other countries' economies aren't) is because the feds have never defaulted on a debt.

[John Locke]

One of the main reasons why the US economy is respected (and other countries' economies aren't) is because the feds have never defaulted on a debt.

If you believe that, can I have your old Gold Certificates at $20 per ounce?

The "feds" have defaulted on 95% of the value of the original US dollar.

[proxy_user]

Certainly not. We owe you a billion dollars, Mr. Wong, and we have credited a billion dollars to your account.

Would you like to look at some nice investments? OK, a representative from Hookem and Crookem will be right with you. He has some very attractive contingency derivative notes issued by top corporations in their offshore booking locations....