Posted on 11/10/2006 8:33:03 AM PST by GodGunsGuts
I got the $200billion of Chinese trade from the BEA site here, the increase in our private wealth came from the Fed's website here, and the US population came from the Census Br. here. Please tell me where you're getting this stuff about which Americans are rich and which owe what to China --unless you just made it all up which means you're a lot more original than I'll ever be.
I only wish I could've sat behind you in Creative Writing....
Yes, the massive swings between inflation and deflation that we suffered while on the gold standard kinda sucked.
My portfolio is kicking into overdrive currently. Keep those printing presses running!
How do American printing presses help your Canadian portfolio?
Humph!
My Aluminum Company (SPSX) is down 2.1% and my steel (OS) is down 1.8%. Today was one of those days I was glad I had my tech and retail stocks in the mix....
Although my Goldcorp and Encana are off a tad today, my Scorpio Mining is leading my Canadian juniors up. My portfolio is up almost 3% today.
Since last Friday's close, I'm up almost precisely 10% overall. I'm still off 9% from my early May peak valuation. I'm used to volatility - diversification eases the g-forces.
Future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. ;^)
They say the only way to keep from blacking out with those kinds of g-forces is by keeping all the gut-muscles tight, but I got enough gastro-intestinal problems as it is.
You made me remember that my weekly screening is has been as much for controlling volatility as it's been for maximizing return. I used to be into going for the big payoffs but before I tell you about those days I got to take a break for more prune juice...
My sympathies for your gut problems - I went through a kidney thing last year.
After having a totally unbalanced portfolio for years, my diversification has reduced volatility to a bearable amount. Besides, it's only volatility downward I worry about. ;^)
Cheers, and happy capitalism!
At least you're not saying it flat out, but this iTulip chart suggests that evil-mean-old-rich-capitalists are getting all the wealth, and your posting it here suggests that it's the oppressed proletariat who'll owe all this money that the evil rich have borrowed from China. We all know it ain't so.
iTulip shovels out an amazing line. You'd think that nobody could still buy that old saw that the evil capitalists get all their money from the oppressed masses. I mean, we just had a century of watching those very same masses fleeing from their workers' paradises so they could go live with the evil capitalists.
First, let's set aside the party line and see for ourselves that everyone's richer. iTulip won't admit it, but their five-year-old numbers came from Census stats that were proven wrong here. Second, nobody's seen anything yet to back up that other goofy idea that College made up, that somehow it's the poor who'll have to pay back all that money that those rich people borrowed from China.
Ahaaa!
You're the guy that borrowed all that money from China that Guns & College are going to have to pay back!!
---just kidding!
I owe a lot to the Chinese, that's true.
In particular, my fondness for ginger beef and spicy fried squid!
Or it means that our economy is unbalanced and the middle class (the backbone of our republic) is shrinking. If the middle class is shrinking we should quite naturally be asking "why."
If you defined the middle class, we could answer your question.
I think the middle class is shrinking because the middle class is getting rich. Why do you think the middle class is shrinking?
When you said:
"When they decide the bill is due and payable, ..."
you omitted the ending phrase:
"...the Chinese will be powerless to collect that bill."
Think about it. What can the Chinese really do?
(1) Refuse to sell us "flip-flops", thereby putting their own economy in the toilet? LOL!
(2) Sue us because the dollar-denominated securities they bought will "lose value" if they try to sell those securities too quickly? LOL!
(3) Sell their surplus "dollars" to buy "euros", knowing full well that a "falling dollar" will increase the cost of their oil imports and radically diminish the value of the dollar reserves they have now? LOL!
(4) Or FINALLY, increase their purchases of American goods and services in order to bring the trade deficit into balance?
Option 4 is the most likely, IMHO.
Do you remember the saying: "Borrow $100,000 and the bank owns you; borrow $100,000,000 and YOU own the bank."? Bottom line: China has more to fear than we do.
Which nation is more likely to be able to stomach the collapse of its economy, the U.S. or China? If current trends hold, I'm saying it's China. It sometimes seems as if half of the U.S. population starts to whine if some other country even grimaces at us.
We really do hear that a lot, and I'd have to agree that you're in very good company with the idea that America's wealth is increasingly being scooped up by the rich and the American middle class is disappearing. Sure, there're all kinds of numbers that show that the middle class is earning more money than ever before, but like they say, "stats don't matter, people do." That's why everyone will ignore the above link just like they skipped this one.
However I disagree with you that "we should quite naturally be asking 'why'" because we all know why. Namely, the rich are obviously grabbing all the money because they want it and they're evil and they don't hesitate to steal it from us workers --and we're just not going to take it any more!!. Zowie, that's stuff is just terrific for getting Democrats elected, and bringing terrorists back to the US.
It's just that in our personal lives our actions prove that we know it's all a pack of lies. I mean, when people want to get rich and stay rich, they want to live near other rich people, they don't move away from them. Hey, does anyone here believe that all those illegal aliens are coming to the US because they want the evil rich capitalists to rob them?
That iTulip graph that Guns showed us in post 67 has something we all need to see. It'd originally been made up to 'prove' how well off the middle class was doing back in 1979, because the middle class was getting it's fair share of the wealth.
I just noticed that the very same year that was supposed to be so wonderful for the middle class as far as getting an even share, just happened to be the same year that middle class real income was at a record low! 
That's why in terms of actual income, '79 was a disaster for the middle class. After all, those were times of double-digit unemployment and inflation --Carter's malaise daze! Of course, they had an equal share --of nothing!
One more reason (as if any were needed) why this whole redistribution of income is a crock --thanks Guns!
Well, the sooner China diversifies away from dollar- the better [for the US, long term]. Why would one want to owe a lot to a strategic enemy? If one has to owe, it is better to owe to the allies than to enemies, for the creditors are influential lot by definition.
Thanks G, nice to hear another voice of reason on this thread.
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