US $ replaced by the Euro

[Zef]

The U. S. Dollar is being replaced by the Euro as the international trade standard...In Fiscal Year 2006, the U. S. Government spent $406 Billion of your money on interest payments.Suppose you want to spend more money this month than your income. This situation is called a "budget deficit". So you borrow. The amount you borrowed (and now owe) is called your debt. You have to pay interest on your debt. If next month you don't have enough money to cover your spending (another deficit), you must borrow some more, and you'll still have to pay the interest on the loan. If you have a deficit every month, you keep borrowing and your debt grows. Soon the interest payment on your loan is bigger than any other item in your budget. Eventually, all you can do is pay the interest payment, and you don't have any money left over for anything else. This situation is known as bankruptcy.

Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress's appropriations. The total borrowed is more than $9,100,000,000,000 and growing.It's a lot of money...What do you guys think about that...

[Paul K]

A lot of people would like to see oil traded in Euros...

[snowman]

Oil isn't $100 per barrel, its just the dollar is inflated. Oil cost the same as it always has. You can thank Congress (thats EVERYONE in congress) plus the president.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Zef

.....What do you guys think about that...

I think that is a simplistic understanding of "money".

[dd74]

Originally Posted by Zef

The total borrowed is more than $9,100,000,000,000 and growing.It's a lot of money...What do you guys think about that...

I think it says a lot that someone in Canada has a better grasp of U.S. economics than the U.S. No wonder the Canadian dollar is worth 7 cents more than the U.S. dollar.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Zef

What do you guys think about that...

Good Sound Fiscal Policy.

There is an old saying. Owe a little and the bank owns you, owe the bank alot and you own them.

I can think of 9 Trillion reasons why nobody wants the US $$$ to fail. Whoa onto the $$$$ if the EURO should become the reserve currency..it will become worthless. That would result in complete economic chaos and the world would be plunged into a depression that nobody alive today would see the end of.

Somebody has gotta pay for the USA military adventures. The price of living in a stable world has got to cost the world something..so now the true value of the debt has been readjusted downwards with the falling $$$.

When someone has bad credit the interest rate goes up. So why is it only 4.75% for the 30 year bond...In the early 80s its was 16% interest.

[Danny_Ocean]

Isn't there an "upside" to a weak dollar? More foreign investment in the U.S. (real estate, goods, etc.) and perhaps some manufacturing will come back...?

[turbo6bar]

Originally Posted by tabs

There is an old saying. Owe a little and the bank owns you, owe the bank alot and you own them.

It's one thing when you take debt on to pay for quality investments, but another when the debt is used to pay for trinkets that depreciate rapidly, particularly when that debt will be around around far after the trinket or war is ancient history.

Funding for the Treasury Department (pays the interest on the $9.1 trillion total debt) is smaller only to Social Security, Department of Defense and Health and Human Services.

Based on that, we should be very thankful treasury rates are really low. If rates reached only 9%, the Treasury Department budget would balloon to almost $900billion making it the single largest outlay for the United States.

Basically, the US has a lot of debt in an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. Like many unwise Americans, the US cannot afford a rate reset to market levels.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

When Indian and Chinese economies convert from manufacturing to consumer, the U.S. $ will have no value.

the irony here is that U.S. demand for lower prices forces U.S. manufacturing overseas which simultaneously destroys the U.S. Middle Class and creates overseas middle classes. the principal reason for cheap overseas manufacturing is the abundance of cheap labor. When that labor, now with great new jobs producing round the clock for the US and the EU, starts to buy their own goods, there will eventually be a tipping point where country of origin purchasing will supersede U.S. purchasing, which, by virtue of long term job loss (we're in a cycle now friends), will be on the decline. All prices will rise as country of origin currencies gain strength through economic development (the rupee is through the roof), but it won't be enough to bring back any substantial U.S. manufacturing.

Personal experience points of interest include: our Indian manufacturers want to take our line of boy's clothing to Indian department stores; a major Russian department store chain placed a very large order at a recent buyers' show.

[SLO-BOB]

I'm willing to admit that (as usual) I don't know ***** about the topic, but will happily respond.

Say what you want about the American dollar - We still drive world economy and without US buying up all that cheap Chinese crap, not to mention German cars, Mid-east oil, Mexican booze, and Canadian guitars, the world would be in hurting shape. The buck must still have some value and I'm not even slightly worried. In fact, I do business in Canada. Before I was expensive. Now I'm a bargain!

[stealthn]

What it means is boatloads of Canadians are cruising down to the US to buy up all their Porsches

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

........the irony here is ......

.......destroys the U.S. Middle Class and creates overseas middle classes.

.......Personal experience points of interest include: our Indian manufacturers........

You seem to bemoan something that you are part of. You're right. That is ironic.

[island911]

Originally Posted by tabs

Good Sound Fiscal Policy.

There is an old saying. Owe a little and the bank owns you, owe the bank alot and you own them.

I can think of 9 Trillion reasons why nobody wants the US $$$ to fail. Whoa onto the $$$$ if the EURO should become the reserve currency..it will become worthless. That would result in complete economic chaos and the world would be plunged into a depression that nobody alive today would see the end of.

Somebody has gotta pay for the USA military adventures. The price of living in a stable world has got to cost the world something..so now the true value of the debt has been readjusted downwards with the falling $$$.

When someone has bad credit the interest rate goes up. So why is it only 4.75% for the 30 year bond...In the early 80s its was 16% interest.

Damn good post! Yet most who read that will gloss it over and go right back to their thinking that debt for a country is just like the payment on their car. ..that money in the bank is always preferred to debt. --people like 'simple.'

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by SLO-BOB

You seem to bemoan something that you are part of. You're right. That is ironic.

It's really sad more than ironic. I've exhausted all resources in US production. T-shirts we can have made here no problem and when all is said and done, they are relatively competitive, but that's it. no pants, no polos, no jackets, no shorts. You can't even get a quote for these things.

of course I bemoan it, production overseas bites, even if you just take lead time into account.

My research turned up that Joseph Aboud does all his suit manufacturing in the U.S., right here in MA. But these are $500 to $1000 suits where the labor cost is a reasonable percentage of total cost. I talked with them about a joint venture type of thing and they strongly recommended against it. I even costed out buying all of our own machinery and hiring seasonal labor since we have so much space in our offices at a great price. It would take 6 years just to break even on the equipment cost alone.

My only saving grace is that I insist on doing business with U.S.-friendly democracies. You do what you can.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by tabs

Good Sound Fiscal Policy.

There is an old saying. Owe a little and the bank owns you, owe the bank alot and you own them.

I can think of 9 Trillion reasons why nobody wants the US $$$ to fail. Whoa onto the $$$$ if the EURO should become the reserve currency..it will become worthless. That would result in complete economic chaos and the world would be plunged into a depression that nobody alive today would see the end of.

Somebody has gotta pay for the USA military adventures. The price of living in a stable world has got to cost the world something..so now the true value of the debt has been readjusted downwards with the falling $$$.

When someone has bad credit the interest rate goes up. So why is it only 4.75% for the 30 year bond...In the early 80s its was 16% interest.

First, where's this old saying come from? George Bailey? Seems to me if you owe the bank a little, no one owns you. If you owe the bank a lot, the bank owns all of your collateral. You must take Mr. Potter for a fool.

And if no one has alerted you yet, let me be the first to say that the U.S. has become a more DESTABILIZING entity via military adventures than a stabilizing one. those Cold War days are over my friend when we protected the world from the threat of communism.

There's enough economic growth in other parts of the world where U.S. consumption and debt are becoming less important in supporting the world economy.

Choose to ignore that at your own peril.

[island911]

right Shaun, "stability and growth" would have been the key descriptors had Saddam controlled all of the mid-east. --stoopid destabilizing US

[lendaddy]

There is no global enforcing body, China doesn't own us in the least. They expect and pray we honor their investments.

Do you expect a repo man to come at some point? Look at they various countries that have defaulted on our investments(and those of other countries), we didn't get anything but the shaft.

own us? How cute.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by island911

right Shaun, "stability and growth" would have been the key descriptors had Saddam controlled all of the mid-east. --stoopid destabilizing US

that's funny! only thing you left out was the word Caliphate. you sound as bad as the loony left screaming about World Trade Center conspiracies.

yeah, Saddam Hussein would have controlled the entire Middle East had we not stepped in. There are not enough rolleyes in the world for this one.

But please humor me: Outline the chronology on how that would unfold on a semi-annual basis over 10 years starting at 2003. I want to see 20 data points, be as subjective as you like, on how Saddam Hussein would gain control of the Middle East.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

There is no global enforcing body, China doesn't own us in the least. They expect and pray we honor their investments.

Do you expect a repo man to come at some point? Look at they various countries that have defaulted on our investments(and those of other countries), we didn't get anything but the shaft.

own us? How cute.

that repo man has already shown up at the door Len, voting against us at the UN in placing sanctions against Iran.

hubris as displayed here, will not help the U.S. It was great in the time of Reagan, but you need to look 20 years down the road.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

that repo man has already shown up at the door Len, voting against us at the UN in placing sanctions against Iran.

hubris as displayed here, will not help the U.S. It was great in the time of Reagan, but you need to look 20 years down the road.

You suggest those votes would have been/gone differently if China had less investment in the US? If anything they have a greater vested interest in our well being.