Posted on 03/22/2015 8:14:15 PM PDT by concernedcitizen76
You read that right: $210 trillion.
A trillion here, a trillion there: pretty soon, we’re talking big money.
Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University testified before the Senate Budget Committee. As usual, his testimony is shocking
The U.S. has a $210 trillion “fiscal gap” and “may well be in worse fiscal shape than any developed country, including Greece,” Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff told members of the Senate Budget Committee in written and oral testimony on Feb. 25.
“The first point I want to get across is that our nation is broke,” Kotlikoff testified. “Our nation’s broke, and it’s not broke in 75 years or 50 years or 25 years or 10 years. It’s broke today.
“Indeed, it may well be in worse fiscal shape than any developed country, including Greece,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at teapartyeconomist.com ...
Please define "the whole thing".
Paper money is inherently unstable. The novelty of treating debt as money with the additional feature of using the value of debt that will never be paid back as a bookable asset has made the underlying problem worse, but not fundamentally different.
Paper money systems end all the time. Ours will too.
Not if, but when.
However, when it dies, all of America's considerable assets will still be present.
So, what do you mean by "bring the whole thing down"?
I agree.
Corzine is the perfect foil
Plus, he's a tool.
“Strategically Red China can do so now. It controls both ends of the Panama Canal and a major West Coast seaport. Plus it has the capability to rain ICBMs on us. And it has demonstrated its ability to take out our satellites.”
China is working hard to remove the dollar as the reserve currency. It has been buying up gold to back its currency. It has been using paper dollars to buy up hard assets (mines, etc) around the world. It is no longer buying US treasury debt and is starting to divest treasury paper. Remember, one of our government’s financial ploys beginning in the Clinton years was to shift from reliance on long term (30 year) to show term (5 and less year) debt. All China must do to divest in less than a decade is stop buying new US debt.
The Chinese gold exchange trades real gold, not paper supposedly backed with real gold. The US exchange trades paper. Does anyone really believe the paper contacts are backed by real gold or is the paper highly leveraged by 50 to 100 times given the traders don’t expect buyers to demand the real thing?
China is quietly establishing currency agreements around the world where transactions between nations no longer take place with US dollars. China has set up alternatives to the US controlled IMF and World Bank. Our old ally the UK just joined China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, over the objections of the Obama administration. Germany, France, Italy and other European nations followed. The end of the dollar as the reserve currency is coming quickly. What will happen late this year or next year when the Chinese formally announce their currency is backed with real gold and actually show the gold. Many suspect he gold in Fort Knox went away years ago. Remember Ron Paul wanted an audit but never got it.
Take reserve currency status away from the dollar and the US economy collapses. The entire Wall Street house of cards comes crashing down. The Fed fires up the electronic money machine to bail out the banks and we have hyperinflation overnight. The Chinese have gotten rid of the dollars and invested in hard assets. Now with the dominant world currency they can buy US assets for nothing.
On top of this, imagine an EMP strike on the US originating from China’s client state North Korea. If there is a US nuclear retaliation, it will be against North Korea, not China, and the fallout will spread across Japan. China is unaffected. More likely, the president is dead and there is no retaliation from our sea based nuclear weapons in the chaos that follows. The electric grid goes down and 2/3 of the population is wiped out from starvation and anarchy. A year later the Chinese army lands on the west coast, welcomed by the survivors.
Meanwhile, our Congresscritters will cave to Obama during the day and enjoy dinners with K Street lobbyists in the evening. The good life goes on until the music stops. Almost certainly we are nearer the end of the song than the beginning.
Question, will the Chinese execute the dollar collapse while Obama is in office or will they allow the next US president to be the fall guy (or gal)?
At what point does money just become a symbol of formality?
That game may be coming to a checkmate soon.
“US economy collapses”
It’s already collapsed where I live.
“It’s already collapsed where I live.”
Today the US economy is in an economic depression propped up by government social programs and Fed monetizing of the debt. Take away the SNAP cards from 46 million Americans and there will be rioting in the streets.
At some point an event will occur causing people to realize their fiat money is worthless and there will be runs on the banks. When that happens we will see hyperinflation overnight followed by total economic collapse and anarchy. Perfect time for a dictatorship.
I simply mean that once debts start to be called in, there won’t be the money to pay back all the debt that has accumulated since the credit cycle started and everything gets reset in a very painful fashion.
But there’s not enough money to pay back the debts NOW.
I know. That’s why it will only take one phonecall, somewhere and sometime calling in an unpayable debt, to bring the whole thing down.
My point is, by any reasonable definition, the “whole thing” is already down.
Once Red China's currency is secure and accepted worldwide as a viable alternative reserve currency, she will be able to threaten the U.S. with all levels of economic warfare including removal of reserve currency status and total economic collapse.
This all started with Nixon removing us from the gold standard. That misguided action opened the doors for endless economic treason. And Red China has taken advantage of it knowing it to be our Achilles heel.
Now Red China needs the U.S. as a trading partner. But it wants us as a vassal, not a power. So it is creating all the elements of power to destroy the U.S. Those are all scheduled to be ready in 2025.
Then we will never again be able to dictate to Red China. The Middle Kingdom will have returned. And it will dictate to us for its own benefit.
So in answer to your; "Question, will the Chinese execute the dollar collapse while Obama is in office or will they allow the next US president to be the fall guy (or gal)?" I believe Red China will wait until 2025 while we do a fine job of weakening ourselves. Then she will present us with the fait accompli of our vassalage.
Of course, events can accelerate this. But the path to vassalage remains the same.
It is Red China. Please see my posts 26 and 52. Those should provide a good summary of my rationale.
Thanks for your observation and question!
Thank you. Even President Bush said once, shortly before leaving office, that China would surpass us.
There wasn’t much that he could do about it. Presidents aren’t as powerful as advertised and perceived, you see.
Indeed. Presidents preside. They do not rule. It is easy for them to destroy through negligence or malpractice, harder for them to maintain, and very difficult for them to build. The latter two require the entire country working together. But the first can be done alone.
That is why we had so many checks and balances built into our government. And it took two generations of gutless wonder elected officials to throw it away.
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