The Spark?

[billcoe]

Few noticed that China did this exact same move back before the "housing bubble" burst that moved that to the front burner and along to reality. Here it is again....be interesting to see if this is the spark that will ignite the blaze. Hold onto your seats boyz.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B71KO20101208

 

" BEIJING | Wed Dec 8, 2010 3:35pm EST

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar will be a safe investment for the next six to 12 months because global markets are focused on the euro zone's troubles but America's fiscal health is worse than Europe's, an adviser to the Chinese central bank said on Wednesday.

 

Li Daokui, an academic member of the central bank's monetary policy committee, said that U.S. bond prices and the dollar would fall when the European economic situation stabilized.

 

"For now, market attention is still on Europe and for the coming 6-12 months, it will not shift to the United States," Li said, when asked about U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to extend tax cuts for all Americans.

 

"But we should be clear in our minds that the fiscal situation in the United States is much worse than in Europe. In one or two years, when the European debt situation stabilizes, attention of financial markets will definitely shift to the United States. At that time, U.S. Treasury bonds and the dollar will experience considerable declines."

 

U.S. Treasury prices fell sharply for a second day on Wednesday as the proposed tax deal sparked concerns over the government's ability to service its massive debt burden. Moody's Investors Service said it is worried the tax cuts could become permanent, hurting U.S. finances and credit ratings in the long run.

 

In Europe, Ireland's parliament passed the first in a series of resolutions underpinning its 2011 austerity budget on Tuesday, marking the first step in a lengthy approval process. But investors are now worried that the region's debt crisis could engulf Portugal next, or Spain.

 

China has a big stake in the performance of dollar assets. The country holds the world's biggest stock pile of foreign exchange reserves at $2.64 trillion and an estimated two-thirds of that is invested in dollar assets, including U.S. Treasuries.

 

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), an arm of the central bank, is responsible for managing the reserves.

 

Li was speaking on the sidelines of a financial forum in Beijing. He sits on the monetary policy committee of the central bank but does not have real influence on key decisions on interest rates and the yuan.

 

China's annual economic growth will exceed 9.5 percent in 2011 and will remain above 9 percent through the coming decade, Li told the forum.

 

The long-term growth outlook would be underpinned by the need to continue investing in infrastructure, he said.

 

"China has a vast domestic demand that is untapped, and that's the fundamental difference between China now and Japan in 1985," Li told a forum.

 

In addition, China would have to spend a lot on "low carbon" industries, lending more support for the economy, he said.

 

Li also predicted that global commodities prices, including oil, would rise sharply next year.

 

Speculation about a Chinese interest rate rise in the coming days has intensified after an official newspaper flagged the chances of an imminent move amid expectations of rising inflation in November."

[letsroll]

When they are right, they are right.

[prole]

But what about this?

[letsroll]

Ues we are exceptionaly selfish as an overall nation. We are only interested and have only been interest in the very short term gain in what feels or looks good right now.\

 

Hence the passage of the Bush tax cuts in the past and most likely present. $$ could have been used to pay down the debt back then or to actually pay for a war.

[prole]

That America has been in decline for some time is not really news. Braudel, Wallerstein, Arrighi and others looking at the rise and fall of hegemonic powers over the long period of capitalist development have been writing about it since the 70s. The question for the medium-term (the next 50 years) is how the American political establishment and others will cope during the chaotic transition to a new order. The right in America and Europe (most certainly on the rise) seem hell-bent on some combination of looting what remains, actively betting against us, and mobilizing citizens using xenophobia and scapegoating to maintain their ability to smash and grab what they can while they can. As far as the left is concerned, Keynesian nostalgia and lifestyle politics (attractive though they are) are woefully overmatched for the hard-edged toxic stew of intensified economic hardship visited by the economic orthodoxy, crumbling political capacities, and the thundering ignorance of the American people that characterizes the current social landscape.

[tvashtarkatena]

When you were born in a trailer, it's all good.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

When you were born in a trailer, it's all good.

 

Most folks born in trailers have more dignity or worth than you.

[tvashtarkatena]

Or exactly the same, since I'm one of them. That's the way we rolled in 1959 baby!

[prole]

When you were born in a trailer, it's all good.

 

Yes, good point. When you consider the American landscape and communities that either haven't gone anywhere in 30 years, have been treading water, or have been in slow decline it's clear that the poor don't really represent much of a threat to social stability. The "mob" is mostly a racialized middle-class fantasy. The newly poor and the suddenly downwardly mobile however constitute the classic demographic for fascist movements in liberal democracies. Heelllooooo Teabaggers!

[ivan]

Ues we are exceptionaly selfish as an overall nation. We are only interested and have only been interest in the very short term gain in what feels or looks good right now.\

 

Hence the passage of the Bush tax cuts in the past and most likely present. $$ could have been used to pay down the debt back then or to actually pay for a war.

whoa, is that a micro-cam being shoved into barbie's boobies?

[prole]

How many thread-killing "oooh, titties!" posts is that for you during the last week?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

How many thread-killing "oooh, titties!" posts is that for you during the last week?

 

Imbecility is apparent to even the most pedestrian of intellects.

[ivan]

How many thread-killing "oooh, titties!" posts is that for you during the last week?

'bout as many baseballs you've managed i reckon

 

just wanted to thank letsroll for contributing something that i could actually appreciate...ya'll can ge back to solving the worlds problems now

[KaskadskyjKozak]

How many thread-killing "oooh, titties!" posts is that for you during the last week?

'bout as many baseballs you've managed i reckon

 

just wanted to thank letsroll for contributing something that i could actually appreciate...ya'll can ge back to solving the worlds problems now

 

prole... solve problems... you are funny, Ivan

[prole]

 

At least I'm not vocally advocating for making them worse!

 

 

 

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

How many thread-killing "oooh, titties!" posts is that for you during the last week?

'bout as many baseballs you've managed i reckon

 

just wanted to thank letsroll for contributing something that i could actually appreciate...ya'll can ge back to solving the worlds problems now

 

prole... solve problems... you are funny, Ivan

 

Who'd you vote for in the last election and what problems do you think they'll solve?

 

Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath for an answer of any substance....just thought I'd try a little quid pro quo.

[JayB]

Anyone who missed the chance to shoehorn themselves into a massively cash-flow negative "investment" property with a Neg-Am Option ARM should avail themselves of the opportunity to invest in one of the gajillion empty condos in China at the moment.

 

 

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

Yes, I think the solution (there's that word, again), is 3 million foreclosures this year, increase military spending to 700,000 B, and give people making a quarter mil or more a year a fat tax cut. While we're at it, let's continue our successful War on Drugs, fight Gay Marriage, and Abortion Rights.

 

Did I leave anything out of the Rfuck agenda? Oh yeah...surveillance for everyone and torture. Forgot those.

[prole]

..or latin baseball futures or the outcomes of divorce settlements and class action lawsuits. With American capital flooding into these high growth areas, jobs should be just around the corner!

[JayB]

..or latin baseball futures or the outcomes of divorce settlements and class action lawsuits. With American capital flooding into these high growth areas, jobs should be just around the corner!

 

Who but a mean-spirited neocon regressive would dismiss all economic activity revolves around something other than expanding production?

 

I think it's great that people who, say, want to trade some of the proceeds of a lucrative divorce settlement for ready cash can do so, or have enough wealth to indulge in profoundly - dare I say - bourgeois pursuits like attending sporting events where spend money to watch multi-millionaires play baseball!

[prole]

Yes, giving tax cuts to high class morons so they can fritter their pocket change (a king's ransom to the rest of us) away on what amount to games of chance during a period of economic mayhem is always a great idea. Let freedumb reign!

 

Bourgeois pursuits? Yes, increased ticket prices has certainly made it more so, but outside of the suites and the front rows, I think you'd find the old ballpark remains a proletarian stronghold. Would love to see William F. Buckley getting vomited on.

 

[JayB]

Central banks guaranteeing one-way bets for creditors/bondholders is the surest way to expand the herd of financiers and guarantee them returns that exceed their economic value!

 

Just glad to see that the great seductress that is the market economy can tempt even the most committed ideologues.

 

 

[ivan]

I think you'd find the old ballpark remains a proletarian stronghold.

maybe, but one that lives in constant fear of getting busted w/ the liter or so of grain alcohol they got stashed in their boots on the way into the park

 

seriously, how the fuck can a common man afford to have 2 fucking beers, even at a goddamn minor league game? baseball might be the cheapest of the pro sports these days, but htat don't mean a goddamn thing.

 

jay, you're the man for such things - how has the relative price of a day at the ball park changed since black sox days?

[prole]

Central banks guaranteeing one-way bets for creditors/bondholders is the surest way to expand the herd of financiers and guarantee them returns that exceed their economic value!

 

Just glad to see that the great seductress that is the market economy can tempt even the most committed ideologues.

 

And I'm glad to see your knee-jerk commitment to the "road to serfdom" narrative is intact. Implacable faith, young Jesuit!

[tvashtarkatena]

For the independently wealthy who eschew both the bourgeois and the boutique: Go Aquasox!

Edited December 10, 2010 by tvashtarkatena