With millions of Chinese jobs dependant on US shoppng the leaders of China better hope that things improve here or they will have more rioting in the streets than even they have soldiers to contain such disruptions.

I have a feeling the Chinese will work with us. We're kind of dependent on each other in a parasitic sort of way. How appropriate of a description is that?

I like that SoWa pic.

FYI

The PDC is now covering up the budget shortfall and project costs in SoWa, refusing to tell the Urban Renewal Advisory Committee
the current numbers and status.

Imagine what this demonstrates.

A city agency controlling hundreds of millions can operate any way they please.

And the Creep and Randy are advising that we need more of this?

It sounds like some overpaid public employees need to be separated from their paychecks.

So, spend it already.

If the US printed a trillion dollars and placed it into a time capsule what would those dollars be worth one hundred years from now?

Fiat currency is not a source of value or wealth, it is just a means of exchange. If you buy something then we won't have to print a trillion dollars to put into circulation to make up for what you have squirreled away.

Just don't buy peanuts or financial institutions. You might get Salmonella poisoning or Derivative poisoning, respectively.

Surely the people's appetite for consumption of foreign goods has expanded beyond processed poppies during the last 170 years? (Assuming the people have the cash and not the government.)

Our corruptocrats have already declared that Salmonella is a good that is worthy of being purchased (or is that Derivatives?) so it is safe to say it is insane to hold US dollars.

I think it's a little late Mr Wen.....you already swallowed.

When those T securities mature, the Chinese will not be reinvesting. What then?

When those T securities mature, , the Chinese will not be reinvesting.

I don't know why the maturity date is of significance. There's a secondary market in T securities, and they can avail themselves of it any time they wish. That they haven't done so yet is certainly noteworthy.

I think China is about to learn that the old adage "owe the bank a million dollars and the bank owns you, owe the bank a trillion dollars and you own the bank" is true.

The other thing China is going to learn is that massive trade imbalance is a problem both ways. You can't build a stable economy that is dependent on others consuming all your capacity. You have to have a domestic market that consumes a fair amount of your labor.

They have basically spent years trading all their labor for pieces of paper.

Hey, he heard we want to raise import duites, so he's taking a pre-emptive strike. Unfortunately, he is kinda stuck with our bills and there is not much of a resale market right now.

The reason the Chinese invest so heavily in US debt is because it is the world's safest investment. No matter how great the severity of pestilence, war, famine, or economic depression in the US, you can always depend upon the US government to pay its bills. That tradition goes back to Alexander Hamilton. That is why the Chinese put their money here. They trust us with their money. It is not because they love us or want to help us.

The Chinese also can't "pull" their investment because there is no other place in the world to accommodate the huge amount of capital the Chinese have to invest. They are stuck with us just as much as we are stuck with them.

Anyone who fears that the Chinese may someday try to destabilize US finances by reinvesting their funds elsewhere should advocate the very farsighted financial policy adopted by Bill Clinton: eliminate the federal deficit and start paying down the federal debt.

I qualify this by saying that I am not a money/finance expert, but given that the dollar has been going up a lot, my guess would be that the world is quite comfortable with us right now.

Anyone who fears that the Chinese may someday try to destabilize US finances by reinvesting their funds elsewhere should advocate the very farsighted financial policy adopted by Bill Clinton: eliminate the federal deficit and start paying down the federal debt.

Of course.

Ben, if you can get your hands and eyes on ANY PDC budget numbers that make any sense you will be the first person to do so. The City Club couln't make much headway 5 years ago either.
Those folks make a science out of hiding their financial business in such a way that no one can decifer it. And they all get pretty nasty down on 5th and Everett when any one asks any questions.
Good luck if you can get any meaningful information.

I think China is about to learn that the old adage "owe the bank a million dollars and the bank owns you, owe the bank a trillion dollars and you own the bank" is true.

no, it's more like "owe the bank a trillion dollars and the bank takes your assets and sells them to somebody else". China's economy isn't solely dependent on the US; far from it, in fact. the US, however, is borrowed up to the eyeballs all over the world.

The other thing China is going to learn is that massive trade imbalance is a problem both ways.

more of China's goods go to places outside the US than in it. and that ratio going to the US is shrinking.

"there is no other place in the world to accommodate the huge amount of capital the Chinese have to invest"

USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!

American exceptionalist fantasy:

http://en.china.cn/content/d507025,af871f,1899_15505.html

The city should employ for every agency an independent public liason with 100% access to all budegtary and policy docs. That way when a taxpayer wanted to see something it would be readily avaialable.

Right now agencies like the PDC are essentially covert without any PDC commissioner or city council commissioner
knowing any more than any outsider.

They have no accesss and are not informed by PDC staff.

I love your photoshops.

For anyone who has noticed the Dubai economy collapse recently something tells me Dubai and Portland may have alot in common. "Partnerships" and "Livability" and "Solutions" to non-existent problems. In other news the Oregon Ducks will soon be playing in China. Send them on the slow boat.

I love your photoshops.

That's an old one. It can't hold a candle to this one.

The reason the Chinese invest so heavily in US debt is because it is the world's safest investment.

did you not read the article Jack linked to? and that guy is being *diplomatic*.

The Chinese also can't "pull" their investment because there is no other place in the world to accommodate the huge amount of capital the Chinese have to invest. They are stuck with us just as much as we are stuck with them.

not really. true, China needs the US market, because it's big. but if the USA bought ZERO goods from China starting tomorrow, China would suffer but survive--but the US economy would utterly collapse. where, my friend, do you think all those piles of consumer junk and packaged food we consume come from?

what's happening to the US economy is a global problem, due in large part to the US's 30-year credit orgy and vampiric destruction of the middle class, in its bid to keep profits artificially high and the engine humming.

in other words, man--it's more than a flat tire. the car's been running on chicken wire and rubber bands for decades.

So the Chinese are feeling insecure about their holdings of US government debt. That must mean that they are driving up the interest rate on treasuries. Except that it's still zero. Something doesn't quite add up.

I wonder what the net worth is of all the goods and services that are produced by US corporations in China?

I could care less about a lengthy discussion over whether US companies own the factories or whether they are cutting deals with Chinese factory owners.

The fact is, without a laissez-faire regulation policy over the past 20+ years that has allowed US corporations to export our self sufficiency and tax base...excuse me manufacturing base, China would be a third world nation.

I would bet that net worth is more than $2 trillion if you measure it at the retail price.

"Except that it's still zero. Something doesn't quite add up."

Approximately one year ago 6 month T securities paid 5% plus. 10 year or longer securities paid higher rates. The Chinese jumped on these because their own interest paying products could not compete. The drop in T security interest is the reason they will not reinvest when those longer term investments mature.