Economy Grows in 3rd Qtr? More deceit by the minute...

The GDP news sounds great, 3.5% growth over the last quarter, right? The economy is moving again, right? Until you start digging into the facts. The real growth which took place was in government spending. It grew by almost 8%! Nearly 20% over the last 6 months! GDP is the sum of a) consumer spending (70% of America's economy), b) business investment (spending), and c) government outlays (more spending). Neither a), nor b) had any significant growth at all, in fact it was flat or negative. But government spending through "Cash for Clunkers" & the "First Time Buyers Housing Credit" was enormous. So much so, that, in reality, the bureaucracy cost taxpayers 3-5 times the  $8000 credits given for these purchases. (Just add it to our national debt, we'll make our children & grandchildren pay for it.) Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis.gov: "Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 7.9 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 11.4 percent in the second."

"Cash for Clunkers Results Finally In: Taxpayers Paid $24,000 (extra) per Vehicle" Edmunds.com

Taking Apart 3Q GDP and the Coming Double-Dip Recession

Our government plays the psychological factor to the hilt. If they can feed (and you swallow) their economic propaganda to make you feel better, give you false hope, and deny your reality, then they've kept you tied to the tether. You're still plugged into the "Matrix", hooked on life support to the Gov't teat.

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Oct 24th Jobless Claims "Only" 531,000 
(It's not what you say, but HOW you say it)

As a USAF veteran (retired), I had over 20 years of distinguishing between our true "mission", and the "BS" factor (the stuff the military bureaucracy passes down to placate you). More & more, I see it in our government & mainstream media profferings. Sadly enough, it appears they truly believe their own lies sincerely. Having been in Eastern Europe and Russia, I also comprehend & understand political propaganda and how it subjugates the populace after decades & decades of inundation. America has ramped up its own version to anesthetize a gullible population. History IS repeating itself, we've just renamed the causes & symptoms so they don't scare us and go down more easily.

America, the warning bells & klaxons are sounding off like crazy, but  you're not responding as you should. Zombies don't react to physical, mental, emotional or spiritual stimuli, is it too late?

The Day of Reckoning; Closer than you think

As I observe & keep a watchful eye over the panoramic landscape of America & the world, and I don't mean the terrain, I mean the political, social, financial, spiritual & all other aspects of life on this spacial orb, it never ceases to befuddle me as to the height, depth & breadth of mankind's impudence & insolence. Of late, it has exploded to never before seen expanses of ignorance, stupidity, obliviousness, greed, selfishness, cruelty, inhumanity and just plain hard-heartedness.

We all get weary of bad news, lies & deceit, and nowadays, the airwaves are saturated with it. In every nation, among all peoples, strife, upheaval & uncertainty abound. What does it all mean? If these aren't the beginning of labor pains, I don't know what is...

It means a Day of Reckoning is on the horizon. A day of reckoning for America as a nation; The last day America can still choose whom she shall serve (Joshua 24:15). It seems more than apparent her choice has already been made, and it wasn't the right One.

We have sold our birthright, squandered our inheritance, and spoiled our fruits. In every aspect mentioned above, we are bankrupt. We are no longer the United States, but the Fractious & Divided States of America. Our peoples have never been more un-united, more polarized, more distraught, more uncertain of our future, and with every good reason...

I made a prophetic utterance in time past, almost 10 years ago, that America the nation, as we knew her, will not last another 30 years. The sand is flowing out of the hourglass, seemingly faster by the minute. We now have about 20 years left, if that long. God and history gave us a blueprint of what would happen if we continued our adultery, but we chose to ignore and disbelieve these facts. I cannot tell you the details of what all can & might happen, the scenarios are immense, but the inevitable is guaranteed. Scripture gives us many details, clues & hints of both past & future events, but on our part, our first & foremost preparation, is to put our trust in the Lord Yahshua. God (YHWH) alone is our salvation. Seek His Kingdom first, and everything else after that is added grace.

After putting on the whole armor of God; the sword (the Word), the breastplate, helmet & shield (righteousness, faith, salvation, Eph 6:14-17), our personal preparation must be to get out of debt as much as possible, become more self-sufficient (growing & trading food, learning survival skills; sewing, carpentry, and the like), conjoin with friends & neighbors, and share the Gospel of Christ. If you think this extreme, read & remember the early days in our country, how our forefathers eked out a living off the land, and gave thanks to Yehovah God. There was NO government assistance, in fact, they were escaping & resisting government intrusion, interference and domination. We've come full circle.
I earnestly pray we do not devolve to the level of the horrors of WWII Germany, the Holocaust, the Bolshevik Revolution, Mao's China, Khmer Rouge, Sudan and other atrocious regimes, but history can & does repeat itself. Because, we're the same sinners we've always been, defiant against YHWH to the very end, unless you've been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus. "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8, "This is love: not that we have love God, but that he loves us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins." I Jn 4:10

___________________NEWS___________________ 

Treasury talks to GMAC about more cash, 3rd bailout

Fears of a New Chill in Home Sales 

Economic reports point to bumpy recovery 

The gold bug's new best friend - the Chinese government

Wake Up Washington! China Is Already Dumping the Dollar

China bidding dollar good-bye?

Get ready, America: Great Depression 2.0 

Bank failures hit 106 on year : More set to fall

Rising Debt a Threat to Japanese Economy; A Foreshadowing?

Can Atlantic City (NJ) Raise the Stakes? Gambling Woes

 

 

 

 

 

Don't Confuse Me With the Facts, even if America IS Bankrupt

No matter how skewed our government and 'Media Minions' spin it, their own "facts" bear them out. The Treasury's report doesn't get national attention, you have to go search for it and see the real numbers. The drivel that comes out of Washington and the state-controlled media talks in circles, but won't spell out the truth.

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It's official! U.S. government is bankrupt
'It's only a matter of time before the public realizes it'
October 18, 2009, 10:09 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily 

The real 2008 federal budget deficit was $5.1 trillion, not the $455 billion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government released by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
The difference between the $455 billion "official" budget deficit numbers and the $5.1 trillion budget deficit based on data reported in the 2008 financial report is that the official budget deficit is calculated on a cash basis, where all tax receipts, including Social Security tax receipts, are used to pay government liabilities as they occur.
The calculations in the 2008 Financial Report are calculated on a GAAP basis ("Generally Accepted Accounting Practices") that includes year-for-year changes in the net present value of unfunded liabilities in social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Under cash accounting, the government makes no provision for future Social Security and Medicare benefits in the year in which those benefits accrue.

Economist John Williams, who publishes the website Shadow Government Statistics, told Corsi, "As bad as 2008 was, the $455 billion budget deficit on a cash basis and the $5.1 trillion federal budget deficit on a GAAP accounting basis does reflect any significant money reflected to the financial bailout or Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which was approved after the close of the fiscal year."
He continued, "For 2009, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the fiscal year 2009 budget deficit as being $1.2 trillion on a cash basis, and that was before taking into consideration the full costs of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, before the cost of the Obama nearly $800 billion economic stimulus plan, or the cost of the second $350 billion tranche in TARP funds, as well as all current bailouts being contemplated by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve."
Williams told Corsi the federal government's deficit is hemorrhaging at a pace that threatens the viability of the financial system. He said the 2009 budget deficit will clearly exceed $2 trillion on a cash basis and the full amount must be funded by Treasury borrowing. He noted that it's not likely to happen without the Federal Reserve acting as lender of last resort by buying Treasury debt and monetizing the debt.
Corsi explained, "'Monetizing the debt' is a term used to signify that the U.S. Treasury will ultimately be required to print cash to meet Treasury debt obligations, acting in this capacity only because the Treasury cannot sell the huge amount of debt elsewhere, possibly not even to the Federal Reserve."
So far, the Treasury has been largely dependent upon foreign buyers, principally China and Japan and other major holders of U.S. dollar foreign exchange reserves, including Middle East oil-producing nations purchasing U.S. debt through their financial agents in London.
"The appetite of foreign buyers to purchase continued trillions of U.S. debt has become more questionable as the world has witnessed the rapid deterioration of the U.S. fiscal condition in the current financial crisis," Williams noted.
Corsi wrote, "The sad reality is that the U.S. Treasury has not reserved any funds to cover the future Social Security and Medicare obligations we are incurring today."
Williams said there are no funds held in reserve today for Social Security and Medicare obligations each year. He said it's only a matter of time until the public realizes that the government is truly bankrupt.
Corsi wrote that if President Obama adds universal health care to list of entitlement payments the federal government is obligated to pay, the negative net worth of the United States government will only get worse.
Calculations from the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government show that the GAAP negative net worth of the federal government has increased to $59.3 trillion, while the total federal obligations under GAAP accounting now total $65.5 trillion.
Williams explained the federal government is truly bankrupt and argued that in a post-Enron world, if the federal government were a corporation such as General Motors, "the president and senior Treasury officers would be in federal penitentiary."

More Evidence of Obama's Recovery...

Higher Priced Homes Now Poised for Further Crash

For many U.S. wealthy, housing crisis still a squeeze

ST. CHARLES, Illinois (Reuters) – Despite some signs that the worst of the U.S. residential housing crisis may be over, many wealthy homeowners are still being squeezed by the combination of weak home prices and the stock market crash.
"I think for wealthy homeowners it will get worse before it gets better," said Dennis Hedlund, founder of iEmergent, a forecaster for mortgage and real estate companies.
"I don't think home prices have bottomed yet. Many people are stuck at the high end, as there aren't many buyers out there," Hedlund said of owners of luxury properties.
From California to Massachusetts, the U.S. housing crisis came after years of easy credit and soaring property values. Towns like the western Chicago suburb of St. Charles saw an unprecedented growth of wealth, especially in high-end homes.
An hour by train from Chicago and known for good schools, St. Charles was a magnet for senior managers and professionals. But as the housing crisis that began in the subprime residential market spread up the property chain, the once-thriving high-end local market ground to a near halt.
"We've never seen anything like it," said Maurine Trafals, office manager at local realty agency Source One. "The market just stopped in the summer."
St. Charles, population 40,000, now has 74 homes for sale with buyers asking more than $1 million.
"That's a huge number to have on the market in a community of this size," Trafals said.
In 2009 five homes over $1 million have sold, compared with 21 in 2008. Prices are down 20 percent from the peak in 2007.
"There are fewer and fewer potential buyers out there, as mid-range homeowners are getting squeezed," said Ray Schafer, co-owner of home builder Michael Raymond Custom Homes, whose firm has had a luxury home on offer here for more than a year.
Schafer has cut his asking price by $50,000 to just under $1.2 million, without drawing out any offers.
"We can't hold onto inventory forever," Schafer said. "So we're just lowering the price until it's such an extreme bargain someone picks it up."
The national luxury market is weak on both the buyer and seller sides, coast to coast. Wealthy homeowners have seen cash reserves erode from the stock market collapse, which also hit retirement savings. The big drops in home prices have squeezed home equity loans. And many high-earners have also lost jobs.
"High-end owners have been hit from all sides," said Cora Berkery, a realtor at Surterre Properties in Orange County, California, site of Disneyland and hundreds of million-dollar homes.
Many wealthy homeowners have held asking prices high in the hope of outlasting the 2-year old property slump. But more are expected to slash prices in the coming year to avoid further losses or obtain cash, adding more properties to the market.
'SHADOW INVENTORY' LURKING
More unwanted supply of U.S. homes at the high end may also come from foreclosures. According to data from research firm First American CoreLogic, the rate at which wealthy homeowners are falling behind on their mortgage payments is increasing.
It says 9.4 percent of those with jumbo prime mortgages -- those over $417,000 -- are 90 days or more behind on their payments. This pales next to the 33.8 percent of subprime loans that are delinquent 90 days or more. But the rate is rising.
While the subprime delinquency rate is 1.3 times higher than a year ago, the jumbo prime delinquency rate is 2.6 times higher, suggesting that wealthy homeowners overstretched themselves financially much as their poorer counterparts did.
"The lower income brackets tend to have much of their equity tied up in their homes," said Sam Khater, chief economist at First American CoreLogic. "Those with higher incomes have a combination of stocks, bonds and home equity."
"During the boom they felt they could save less and borrow more," he said. "But they've taken a huge hit since the peak."
While California still paces the country in many of the worst aspects of the housing crisis, the plight of wealthier homeowners is now largely the same nation-wide, Khater said.
On a drive through Prairie Lakes, a development in St. Charles where $1 million 20-room homes stand barely 15 feet apart, Maurine Trafals points out homes for sale but also a few that are empty but still not on the market.
"Some home builders are waiting for things to pick up before they sell," she said, pondering this "shadow" market.
"Shadow inventory has become the industry buzzword over the past few weeks," said Michael Lefevre, head of the National Association of Mortgage Professionals. "There is a lot of property out there that is yet to hit the market and could mean 2010 will be worse than 2009."
Shadow inventory is a wild card. But Khater said the trend is significant enough that he is working on an estimate.
So the irony for wealthy homeowners is that the longer they wait the more they may have to cut their asking price. Realtors say sellers are awakening to the danger of a downward spiral.
Surterre Properties' Berkery said in the past few months she has seen more high-end homeowners "become proactive" and sell their homes at auctions at a massive discount.
"As corporate cost-cutting is moving up the management ladder, some people are taking matters into their own hands and selling rather than be forced to later on," she said.
Berkery said the most affected are the "lower-end" wealthy with homes valued at up to around $3 million, as they tend to be more overstretched than the super wealthy.
"The good news is property is selling, if at a huge discount," she said. "Most of the buyers we're seeing are foreign investors from the Far East and, now that the euro is stronger, we're seeing more Europeans too."

Sept. retail sales fall 1.5 percent post Clunkers

 

 

No, it's nowhere near over; Who to believe?

Our gov't is telling us the economic crisis is over. All is well, growth & prosperity are just around the corner.
Somehow these lies pale in light of the facts; America is in shambles, and moreso each & every day.
Here's evidence contrary to the White House press releases:

_______________________NEWS_________________________

Gold spikes to new record high: Oct 14, $1071/oz:Dollar falls against Euro

Will California become America's first failed state?

Too many palatial homes, too few princely buyers 

Fannie and Freddie Continue to Struggle, Lawmakers Told 

U.S. Mortgage Backer FHA May Need Bailout, Experts Say

Debt-Market Paralysis Deepens Credit Drought

Trucking Industry Sees no Recovery: "If it ain't shippin', we ain't movin, and it ain't sellin', If there was any sign of a recovery, we would know it." 

2012 forecast: Food riots, ghost malls, mob rule, terror: Trends chief says people should brace for 'the greatest depression' 

 

 

Sad example of American family gone wrong

The story of this American family below, caught in the economic tsunami, tells a sadder, deeper tale of American values gone awry. If you read the entire story, it's impossible not to multiply the misdirected philosophy & mindset by the millions across America. The disheartening scope of priorities upon which this family have built their lives, and their children's lives, has been cast and passed down from generation to generation, bringing our nation to exactly where it is today.

The glaring premise that this man's self-worth is measured by how much he makes, and that his wife's love & commitment are grounded in his earning power, while his importance to his children is counted by the amount of Christmas presents he can lavish, is such a numbing, heart-breaking testament to America's demise. We've lost our soul & spirit of what's truly important.

 More than what this story tells, is what it doesn't. It doesn't speak of virtues, of character & integrity, of faith, of morals & values, of dedication and rightness of spirit. One can almost sense the chasms of emptiness in their existence between the lines. Most important of all, is Who is missing from the center their lives...

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Still on the Job, but Making Only Half as Much

(edited for content)
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — The dark blue captain’s hat, with its golden oak-leaf clusters, sits atop a bookcase in Bryan Lawlor’s home, out of reach of the children. The uniform their father wears still displays the four stripes of a commercial airline captain, but the hat stays home. The rules forbid that extra display of authority, now that Mr. Lawlor has been downgraded to first officer...But with air travel down, his employer cut costs by downgrading 130 captains, those with the lowest seniority, to first officers, automatically cutting the wage of each by roughly 50 percent — to $34,000 in Mr. Lawlor’s case.
The demotion, the loss of command, the cut in pay to less than his wife, Tracy, makes as a fourth-grade teacher, have diminished Mr. Lawlor, 34, in his own eyes. He still thinks he will return to being the family’s principal breadwinner, although as the months pass he worries more. “I don’t want to be a 50-year-old pilot earning $40,000 a year,” he said, adding that his wife does not want to be married to a pilot with so little earning power.
Bryan and Tracy Lawlor, who is also 34, have hidden their straitened circumstances from their four young children, mainly at his insistence. But as their savings dwindle, Christmas, a key indicator in the Lawlor family, will mean fewer presents this year. The Lawlors have made a practice of piling on toys and new clothes for their children at Christmas, buying relatively less the rest of the year. That will make a cutback noticeable this holiday season, and the parents are concerned that their children will begin to realize why.
“You don’t want to see disappointment on their faces; that makes me feel horrible,” Mr. Lawlor said. “You can be the best pilot in the airline and make the best landings, and in their eyes, I am not going to be as important as I was.”
“My mind is always on 20 different things,” Mr. Lawlor said. “What do I need to get done? How much will it cost? Is it necessary? Can I do it cheaper if I do it myself? Can I make the earlier commute home? Rush, rush, rush, and then suddenly someone makes the wrong comment and I become uncorked.”
Still, as her husband’s ordeal drags on, Mr. Lawlor in some ways has risen in his wife’s eyes. “I have more respect for him,” she said. “I can see he is angry and upset, but he does not show it very often, and never to the kids.”
That is less and less true, Mr. Lawlor said, amending his wife’s appraisal. One year into his downgrade, “never” has turned to “rarely” and, in recent weeks, “not so rarely.” He blew up last week at his 3-year-old son, Shayne, for refusing to take a nap, and sent the child whimpering to his room.
“My point would be that being in the captain’s seat made me feel in command, and capable and powerful,” Mr. Lawlor said.
He called in sick recently, suffering basically from fatigue. “I think the reason I felt fatigued is the stress,” he said. “It is always there.”

"...do not be terrified,...the end is still not yet..."

I have often used the analogy of this historical, on-going world crisis as a global hurricane, like Katrina on a world-wide scale. The initial assault, or frontal buffet, as it were, has been largely an economic ravaging of major nations & continents; the U.S., China, Japan, Europe, Australia, Africa, North & South America. Nearly the entire planet has felt some impact from the first wave of this storm. Sadly, many economic and political "experts" tell us the storm is over, the sun is shining, we can now rebuild, and go back to the way it was before...WRONG!!!

The winds, rains, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and fires are still raging, both literally & figuratively...

It's hard to equate a time when so many calamities were present all at once, or one after the other: Fires in California, floods in the southeast and Australia, earthquakes & typhoons in the Pacific and Indian Far East, war escalation in Afghanistan, global economic & political chaos, famine & drought in Africa, and as always, tension in the Middle East. Only this time, the political "saber-rattling" in Iran is wielding a NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB.

Do I believe the "popularized" end is near? No, not even...we are merely at the beginning of the beginning. If anything at all, we are in the eye of the first storm. We are not in any "historical cycle", as most pundits have put it, but are witnessing the prophetic world re-alignment and stage-setting not seen since the days of Noe & the Great Flood. I have no idea how many years this will continue. Noe preached the oncoming flood for over 100 years...

I desperately urge every reader to carefully study the "Mount Olivet Discourse" of Matthew 24, Mark 13, & Luke 21. These three accounts of the same prophecies by Our Lord Yashua the Messiah are astounding in their utterance, profound in their ramifications, and mind-blowing in their implications. "...do not be terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is still not yet..." Luke 21:9
If it were not for the nation of Israel, none of this would be any different than any other time before in the last 2000 years.
Never before in world history has the stage been so set to bring in the "New World Order", with the means, the motivation, and the driving impetus of today's socio-politico-economic conditions. World political and financial leaders have never before been so vocal, so active in bringing it about. And, America has never before been so weak, so vulnerable. 
There is a timetable, just not ours to gauge by. YHWH's timetable is the only one that truly counts, and the one we must live by...  
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The demise of the dollar

October 6, 2009 , By Robert Fisk,

Independent News and Media Limited

In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading.

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning - along with China, Russia, Japan and France - to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.
Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.
The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.
The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place - although they have not discovered the details - are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. "Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable," he told the Asia and Africa Review. "We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security."
This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil - yet again turning the region's conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves.
The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. "One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations," he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and World Bank. But it is China's extraordinary new financial power - along with past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America's power to interfere in the international financial system - which has prompted the latest discussions involving the Gulf states.
Brazil has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments, along with India. Indeed, China appears to be the most enthusiastic of all the financial powers involved, not least because of its enormous trade with the Middle East.
China imports 60 per cent of its oil, much of it from the Middle East and Russia. The Chinese have oil production concessions in Iraq - blocked by the US until this year - and since 2008 have held an $8bn agreement with Iran to develop refining capacity and gas resources. China has oil deals in Sudan (where it has substituted for US interests) and has been negotiating for oil concessions with Libya, where all such contracts are joint ventures.
Furthermore, Chinese exports to the region now account for no fewer than 10 per cent of the imports of every country in the Middle East, including a huge range of products from cars to weapon systems, food, clothes, even dolls. In a clear sign of China's growing financial muscle, the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, yesterday pleaded with Beijing to let the yuan appreciate against a sliding dollar and, by extension, loosen China's reliance on US monetary policy, to help rebalance the world economy and ease upward pressure on the euro.
Ever since the Bretton Woods agreements - the accords after the Second World War which bequeathed the architecture for the modern international financial system - America's trading partners have been left to cope with the impact of Washington's control and, in more recent years, the hegemony of the dollar as the dominant global reserve currency.
The Chinese believe, for example, that the Americans persuaded Britain to stay out of the euro in order to prevent an earlier move away from the dollar. But Chinese banking sources say their discussions have gone too far to be blocked now. "The Russians will eventually bring in the rouble to the basket of currencies," a prominent Hong Kong broker told The Independent. "The Brits are stuck in the middle and will come into the euro. They have no choice because they won't be able to use the US dollar."
Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the transition from the dollar in nine years' time. The current deadline for the currency transition is 2018.
The US discussed the trend briefly at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh; the Chinese Central Bank governor and other officials have been worrying aloud about the dollar for years. Their problem is that much of their national wealth is tied up in dollar assets.
"These plans will change the face of international financial transactions," one Chinese banker said. "America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate."
Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars. Bankers remember, of course, what happened to the last Middle East oil producer to sell its oil in euros rather than dollars. A few months after Saddam Hussein trumpeted his decision, the Americans and British invaded Iraq.