Intelligent, astute , intriguing discussion. Enjoyed it very much.
I didn’t know that Russia and China have been working together since 2011 to establish an alternative economic/financial system that would function even if the USA collapses, which they consider inevitable given our $20 trillion debt. This makes them less vulnerable if the USA collapses, though they would still suffer in the short-term. It could make them willing to collapse the US economy deliberately so it can happen at the best time for them.
The 2011 timeframe is interesting. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_debt_ceiling the debt ceiling raised in Feb of 2010 by an amount double the highest ever debt increase. Two years later, in Jan of 2012, it raised even more. Both of those debt ceiling increases came when campaigning for that year’s elections was starting up. I’m wondering if China and Russia read the writing on the wall and realized that the USA was accelerating toward a cliff we could never survive and nobody had the will to stop it.
Russia has the ability to collapse our stock market at any time through cyber-terrorism and has boasted of that ability.
China has bought the Chicago Stock Exchange. It’s unknown whether that will withstand scrutiny by regulators; even though it is illegal, the US government has ignored a lot of laws because Chinese money is so critical to the whole governmnet complex. If the sale stands it will put us at further risk of Chinese hacking and economic manipulation/attack.
If the US economy crashes and the dollar collapses in the world market, what will happen to people in the US who have money saved in dollars?
What is the alternative barter material if a person wanted to get out of US dollars in preparation for a US collapse?