Great post GDB. My exact feelings. I also have to pinch myself on the thought that the FED is printing money out of thin air. No country in the past has done this and gotten away with it. Why will the USA be different?
Regarding China and all the other countries standing in for the USA. Teh argument is, well China cannot get out of this debt buying spin because they have too much invested. Well the counter argument how long will they keep throwing money at the USA when the know that the USA is debasing its currency. At some point common sense will prevail and they will try and find an exit. I think they are already trying to look for an exit that will cause the least amount of pain. To put it another way. I have a bond at the bank which I cannot pay. I continue to increase my bond to sustain my nice lifestyle. The bank is just to eager to lend me the money. My bond just keeps on ballooning. At some point I owe the bank so much money that they have no choice but to keep on lending me more money, because if I default they go bankrupt. How long can this scenario go on.....this is where the USA and the rest of the world is standing.
Interesting that the rumours of war are all over the show at the moment. Maybe all these rogue states know that the USA is vulnerable at the moment. Some stories just posted in the last day: North Korea might be aiming a missile towards Hawai to be launched on July 4. Al Qaida says if it ever obtain nuclear weapons in Pakistan they will not hesitate to use it agianst the USA. Iran and Israel are squearing off for some confrontation in the future.
And have we all forgotten about swine flu. Seems like a mild version. Not serious. Remember the Spanish flu of 1918 had a first outbreak fairly mild. It came back the following season in vengeance and killed millions.
So I can go on.
There is multiple things happening at the moment which if they where to come to fruitation would put the nail in the USA coffin....they are vulnerable and their enemies knows it.
Only time will tell.....but these are definitely strange times.