May 11, 2007

Our Great Landlord China keeps racking it up


One day, when Americans wake up, we'll wonder how we let a communist country come to own us. Unless we decide to just not pay it back.

Under an overturned nest, can there be unbroken eggs?

China's trade surplus in April rose to $16.88 billion - almost double the March level.

The trade gap for the first four months was $63.3 billion, 88% higher than a year earlier.

The expanding gap, in particular with the US, comes two weeks before US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Vice Premier Wu Yi meet for a trade summit in Washington. China this week announced that it will buy more than $4 billion of US technology, seeking to narrow the surplus and head off claims that China benefits from an undervalued currency.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Most American's have no idea that the United States borrows Billions every day because it can't pay its bills. They just think we are great, our strong economy, strong military. The United States has borrowed its way to prosperity, when the bill comes due, expect alot of unprepared people. In a single generation, the USA has gone from the largest lender to the largest debtor. Without someone lending the USA money every day, the country would find out that it is broke.

Anonymous said...

could be part of W's grand plan. USA wil default to china, dollar goes to zero, we merge into Mexico (oil) and Canada (oil sands) and WALLA the North American Union with a common currancy - The Amero - backed by energy resource - which we dont have, but have now stolen from our neighbors - and the American public wiped out from loss of savings.

Anonymous said...

Take this ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6465763.stm

So what are we going to sell them once they can build their own jumbo jets?

Anonymous said...

Sometime soon Americans will be stunned as Bush applies for citizenship in China.

Anonymous said...

AH SO, You like flied lice?

Anonymous said...

Eh,. Don't be to quick to worship china. They got some serious problems. They are in massive bubble like territory with average joes(or average changs) selling and borrowing to get in. They have more civil unrest than people know. It would make me feel good to be hungry and poor while there is 1.3 trillion sitting there so my yuan can by less food and stuff for my family. They are an environmental disaster, a brutal regime, and have even less natural resources than us. It may be china's century but Im glad to be an average "chan" over here than over there.

PS-they are doing everything just to have a nice olympics. After that things will get more exciting between the US and china. ALso, they are holding weakening assets, whose the greater fool?

joey in NH

gregoryw said...

Debt is really not something to be afraid of, especially on the national scale. Almost every Western country in the world is in debt to the tune of around 50% their GDP. In Japan's case, over 100% of their GDP. Businesses and government alike can grow faster by leveraging themselves. The national debt is not something the next generation will pay off in one lump sum on a doomsday in the year 2012. Every month the government makes pays the coupon on their bonds and the world goes round. In fact, our debt : GDP is the same as it was in the 1960s. We are no worse or no better off as debtors. If you think we should be, then you can assign blame to baby boomers for not leaving it better than they found it.

Where the United States differs from some countries is that we continue to borrow (run a deficit each year) rather than balance the budget. This is OK because we as a country are still growing. Ever take a cross country flight? See all that empty land? We can fit a lot more people (taxpayers). We have the highest birth rate of any western country. Our immigration policy (or lack thereof) has let about 18 million people into the country over the last decade or two who probably had another few million children.

As long as we grow the country and the GDP, we can continue to borrow. If we take measures to stem the flow of immigration and curb businesses, then we'd better stop borrowing.

GDP = C + I + G + NX

Consumers, industry, and government leverage themselves to grow most quickly. Efficient capital markets route the money. Investor confidence in the US economy to continue to provide predictable returns as it has for the last 60 years keeps the gravy in USD.

At the end of the day, the United States is the only place in the world where: people will work an average of 44 hours a week; there is not ciesta from 11am - 2pm (ahem France Germany Spain Italy); citizens control their unrest; there is political stability (no coups); and it's all BUSINESS AS USUAL FOLKS.

This said, houses are way the f*ck overpriced. Invest in 70% S&P500 spider, 20% emerging markets ETF, 10% precious metals.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said..."Sometime soon Americans will be stunned as Bush applies for citizenship in China."

May 11, 2007 2:00 PM

No way. He has that 90,000 acre ranch in Paraguay (and no extradition treaty to worry about).

Anonymous said...

I believe it was Lenin who said that "the capitalists will sell us the rope we use to hang them".