2/08/2006

Response To BIB Anonymous Request

 
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13 comments:

Sam said...

Yeah, and I think he's building a radio controlled "chicken-haid weasel sniper" model plane there too!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pic and the grammer lesson. How about economics 101,your first pop quiz find the real meaning of the term balance of trade and it's implications. It might be helpful for you to start to understand the 21st century.

Sam said...

I don't know where that message came from, but I share concerns about trade imbalances (the opposite of "balance of trade"). The biggest global threat is from China. The largest impact is on the West Coast (LA and Long Beach) but now there are direct container shipments from China to Massport. And, it is only going to get worse under free trade policies.

See what happens is that when stuff is imported to the US, American buyers send a big ole check back overseas, which is then converted into yuan (Chinese money that is pegged to the dollar). After paying all the expenses they have a bazillion yuan in their pockets.

Now cash is a big liability, since you lose money because you need 2-3 percent just to keep up with inflation. I'd like to have the problem but stuffing the mattress with cash is a very dangerous practice. So the Chinese are smart so they buy ... US securities, T-Bills, US real estate investments, and so forth.

That's right, much of the excess Chinese cash gets plowed into owning a piece of America. Funded by your social security payments! While it is true the social security program may run out of money in a decade, right now it makes billions of dollars so we can fund wars and balance the budget.

So the Chinese are buying massive quanities of social security-based T-Bills at a certain rate, not very good, but the US Treasury has to eventually pay off those notes ... in cash, converted to yuan.

If you don't see a "double whammy" there it's because I'm not an economist and not a great writer. Riding on a few billion here and there is not such a big deal, but soomer or later all those billions add up to real money. /Sam

Anonymous said...

Sam
You have no clue what you are talking about. So you don't think that we live in a time of a global economy. Outside investment is good. I mean give me a break. GM owns Saab ,Ford owns volvo,Chrysler owns Mercedes Benz. Ahold corp of holland owns stop and shop. The list goes on and on, and it goes both ways. We need to be able to compete in a global free market. The comment comes from the BIB blog. Where everett missuses the term "balance of trade" and now, you did also. So put your thinking cap on and do your homework. If you can't figure it out, I'll you tell later. Right now I have to check my investments on the Shanghai exchange.

Sam said...

So, cyber sniper, I might have missed some dialectic in your debate but you also by extension said Alan Greenspan, The US Treasury Secretary Snow, leading economists, and editorialists such as Tom Friedman at NY Times are completely wrong.

Hey man, or woman, you can blast my name into orbit if you want. You are basically proving to me that your are a dogmatic, incapable of constructive argument, unaccepting of other points of view, prone to personal glorification, and a bombastic, passive-agressive fool.

And a pathological liar.

Perhaps you need to go to the Dale Carnegie School to learn how to win friend and influence people. Or perhaps you need your own blog so you can sneer at the world and be snarky, hateful, and all-knowing.

Do your own damn homework and learn how to get along with people.

Anonymous said...

While you doing your homework get a clue on what a T-Bill actually is. Don't you wish you paid attention school. Oh yeah I have great cartoon image of you. Title "Sam following Evertt" Imagine, Everett walking down the street with with sam's shoes sticking out his butt, of course Sam is still in his shoes

Sam said...

Having visions now? I'm so sorry.

Anonymous said...

Sam maybe this summer, if you make it to BI . You will be driving your green TOYOTA LC with texas plates, you will be wondering why did that person just flipped me off . I'd love to know what I'm lying about.BY what extension,yours, you I can tell don't the first thing about economics. You show me 10 leading economists saying one thing and I'll give you 10 saying the opposite.

Sam said...

Aw shucks, let me level with you. My economics is real weak. But I do know that (1) the US sends more money abroad than it takes in. And I do know that (2) the US spends more money than taxpayers pay. That was my two points and it is very simple and easily defended. Another fact is that (3) China is heavily investing profits in the US. Whether that is good or bad is completely out of my field of investigation so I go with whoever has the most salient points. I didn;t see any from you, sir, not a speck, so I'm a little confused here.

Toyota, surely you jest, sir!

Everett said...

I think he has me stumped there Sam! I'm not even able to envision that latest cartoon without getting a pain in my ample stomach! Graphic artist I'm not, so that cartoon won't appear here. I could have sworn that Mercedes Benz had a large piece of Chrysler and not the other way 'round?
-It is "grammAr" not grammer.
-Sorry, I'm stuck in the 20 century.
-Money comes in, money goes out. A pretty simple concept,semantics notwithstanding, and we are on the short end of that stick!
-I guess Mr Sniper is never going to take anyones advice about anything Sam. See, he won't even do a simple thing like proof reading his bizarre postings. Key words keep getting left out of tirades, and it makes me think I am dealing with a ten year old! Although I know one nine year old who puts more thought into statements she makes, than this guy has in all previous comments. Later Dude, I've got to go get my block and tackle set up to do some extraction work this AM!!OOhh, I feel a 'movement' coming on!

Sam said...

I don't think I'm crying wolf, Everett. The NY Times ran an article today saying that the federal trade deficit is a record 726 billion dollars (726 B). Of that, 202 B was from China imports. Another 252 B was from crude oil imports, although it should be noted that OPEC counties only sent 93 B our way.

The article goes on to report that since the year 2000, three million manufacturing jobs have been lost. most likely permenantly. It concludes by saying that countries such as China are "happy to hold US currency" by investing in stocks, bonds, and other investments, but that a rapid sell-off could cause the US economy to rapidly plunge.

In a separate AP story it was reported that US families have the lowest level of savings since the Great Depression. Recall that consumer spending and real estate are the only two robust sectors of the economy and both could tank very easily due to a "market bubble."

So yes I'm concerned.

Anonymous said...

Sam
Are you refering to the article from 2/10/06 "Us Trade Deficit Hit All-time Highin 2005" by Vikas Bajaj?

Sam said...

Righto, sir. The article was just updated and now contains the following statement, without any editing:

"China and Japan are the biggest holders of United States Treasury bonds. Their purchases help finance the federal budget deficit and allow Americans to buy homes with cheap mortgages and to consume large quantities of imports, many of them from Asia."