DavidD wrote:
And what happens to the U.S. when China comes calling for the debt? The same that happens to anyone who owes a ton of money and has to pay it back? Not quite, right? I think your view is a bit too simplistic.
Simplistic, probably yes but practical. How exactly will China come calling
for the debt. I would be grateful if you could go through the modalities so I
could better understand.
If supply and demand was allowed to take their normal course, China's
RMB would have naturally revalued itself and relative to it US Dollar would
have devalued itself. China for purposes of 'competitiveness' manipulated
the system by artificially supporting the Dollars value and then had the
stupidity to buy the very asset they were artificially supporting!
Now they are in a bind, sell the Dollar and devalue the majority of the
assets they have worked so hard for or carry on supporting an asset which
everyone including them knows full well is not really worth its current value.
I have watched this for some 5-7 years and constantly asked myself 'how
can this carry on'. For those better informed then myself, what would have
been the effect of a free market where RMB revalued itself and Dollar
depreciated to compensate for US excesses and uncompetitiveness. I
think US rates would have risen curtailing both easy credit and the
excesses that we recently saw. Who knows probably a simplistic thought.