Geithner says U.S. economy stabilizing

Joe,

People who brag that they live in gated communities should worry especially if China loses its appetite for extending more and more loans by buying U.S. Treasury securities.

As I read..."China is the single largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasurys. The money it lends to the Feds finances our significant budget deficits. Americans have been paying about $450 billion a year in interest on the national credit card; without that debt to pay off, personal income taxes could be almost 40 percent lower."

You say that..., as usual, Europe will pick up some of the tab?

We all should be concerning ourselves with China not Europe.

lowe,

Yes it is a huge amount but don't wary. One way or other the world at large, including Europe will pick up at least part of the tab as usuel.

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

"Yes it is a huge amount but don't wary. One way or other the world at large, including Europe will pick up at least part of the tab as usuel.
(Joe, 19 May 2009 16:52) "

What me worry? It is you who will have to cut back on your limo rides and Hungarian trips in time, not me. You will also have to pick up a proportionately far greater share of the tab (through direct and indirect taxation probably) now that more and more of your countrymen are unable to pay their share.

You are still hoping to pull a fast one on Europe and the world ..... isn't it ironic? After all that boasting in the past about US wealth comes the tacit admission now that it was all a big show done on borrowed funds and trickery.

Roger7,

Yes I am living in a gated community but I am not indebted like the US Government or some of my friends, who overdid it with jumbo mortgages. Whatever the Chinese would do in the future would hardly affect me. As for the buying orgy on credit cards - what was going on in the US for so many years inflating the trade deficit - was absolutely crazy and had to stop. "Shopping" on credit during week-ends and holidays became a national passtime. Many people bought all kind of things they didn't really need or never used once brought home.
Hopefully the current crisis will force some people to be more careful and mature in the future.

pat,

I don't have any bubble to burst. I am very realistic about the current situation and don't buy the optimism the Hill, the FED and Wall Street tried to create in the last few months. As many people know or figured out on this site I didn't vote for BHO.
Yes indirectly I would be affected because my main residence (not in Arizona, Florida or Nevada) would not fetch as much as 3 or 4 years ago but I don't plan to move.
As for the deep, fabulous discounts - especially in Arizona - it is very tempting to buy now. The real estate recovery - because of the huge inventory - will however take pretty long so I keep my powder dry, I resist the temtation to buy. As for the current bear market rally it will run out of steam fairly soon. During bear markets it is usual to have rallies like this. There is one more "down leg" to come in the current bear market.
As for Russia and China if the current system would crumble they would fall with the rest of the world. As for Russia the fall there is even bigger than in many Western countries.

joe, not to burst your bubble, but what the chinesse do will very likely effect you. You may be in a better situation than many or most of your peers, as I am as well. I thank my own good sense, as I suspect you do too, however it is impossible to live as an island onto yourself. The indirect effects will likely trickle to you, as they will me. Currently we both may be in good financial health, but if the equity in our assests drops, as in Arizona, or Las Vegas (some 30%-40% losses), or local job markets dry up, towns and cities feel massive strain. Over taxation in order to repay a debt that might get called in sooner rather than later.
We're all in the same mixing pot and we'll all sink or swim together.

The biggest problem is that we're too naive in the west and believe the rubbish that our leaders tell us. The honourable BHO has not lived up to one of his "promises". We've all seen his lack luster start, yet we still believe that rhetoric coming from the Hill or the FED or Wall Street.
As much as I hope that we will work our way out of this mess, I also hope that the agreessive movements be Russia and China to solidify their wealth backed by tangleble assests meets an equal western partner and a balanced system is forced, lest we watch the current Western system crumble and get replaced (not propped up) by a new properly backed finacial system that no longer includes the West and its greed, not wealth, based system.

lowe,

Yes it is a huge amount but don't wary. One way or other the world at large, including Europe will pick up at least part of the tab as usuel.

pat,

I don't have any bubble to burst. I am very realistic about the current situation and don't buy the optimism the Hill, the FED and Wall Street tried to create in the last few months. As many people know or figured out on this site I didn't vote for BHO.
Yes indirectly I would be affected because my main residence (not in Arizona, Florida or Nevada) would not fetch as much as 3 or 4 years ago but I don't plan to move.
As for the deep, fabulous discounts - especially in Arizona - it is very tempting to buy now. The real estate recovery - because of the huge inventory - will however take pretty long so I keep my powder dry, I resist the temtation to buy. As for the current bear market rally it will run out of steam fairly soon. During bear markets it is usual to have rallies like this. There is one more "down leg" to come in the current bear market.
As for Russia and China if the current system would crumble they would fall with the rest of the world. As for Russia the fall there is even bigger than in many Western countries.

"Yes it is a huge amount but don't wary. One way or other the world at large, including Europe will pick up at least part of the tab as usuel.
(Joe, 19 May 2009 16:52) "

What me worry? It is you who will have to cut back on your limo rides and Hungarian trips in time, not me. You will also have to pick up a proportionately far greater share of the tab (through direct and indirect taxation probably) now that more and more of your countrymen are unable to pay their share.

You are still hoping to pull a fast one on Europe and the world ..... isn't it ironic? After all that boasting in the past about US wealth comes the tacit admission now that it was all a big show done on borrowed funds and trickery.

Roger7,

Yes I am living in a gated community but I am not indebted like the US Government or some of my friends, who overdid it with jumbo mortgages. Whatever the Chinese would do in the future would hardly affect me. As for the buying orgy on credit cards - what was going on in the US for so many years inflating the trade deficit - was absolutely crazy and had to stop. "Shopping" on credit during week-ends and holidays became a national passtime. Many people bought all kind of things they didn't really need or never used once brought home.
Hopefully the current crisis will force some people to be more careful and mature in the future.

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Joe,

People who brag that they live in gated communities should worry especially if China loses its appetite for extending more and more loans by buying U.S. Treasury securities.

As I read..."China is the single largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasurys. The money it lends to the Feds finances our significant budget deficits. Americans have been paying about $450 billion a year in interest on the national credit card; without that debt to pay off, personal income taxes could be almost 40 percent lower."

You say that..., as usual, Europe will pick up some of the tab?

We all should be concerning ourselves with China not Europe.

joe, not to burst your bubble, but what the chinesse do will very likely effect you. You may be in a better situation than many or most of your peers, as I am as well. I thank my own good sense, as I suspect you do too, however it is impossible to live as an island onto yourself. The indirect effects will likely trickle to you, as they will me. Currently we both may be in good financial health, but if the equity in our assests drops, as in Arizona, or Las Vegas (some 30%-40% losses), or local job markets dry up, towns and cities feel massive strain. Over taxation in order to repay a debt that might get called in sooner rather than later.
We're all in the same mixing pot and we'll all sink or swim together.

The biggest problem is that we're too naive in the west and believe the rubbish that our leaders tell us. The honourable BHO has not lived up to one of his "promises". We've all seen his lack luster start, yet we still believe that rhetoric coming from the Hill or the FED or Wall Street.
As much as I hope that we will work our way out of this mess, I also hope that the agreessive movements be Russia and China to solidify their wealth backed by tangleble assests meets an equal western partner and a balanced system is forced, lest we watch the current Western system crumble and get replaced (not propped up) by a new properly backed finacial system that no longer includes the West and its greed, not wealth, based system.