Comments on: Pittsburgh is a Symbol of the Industrial Decline of the United States

By: cb

cb — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:16:06 +0000

but, I had a more imminent possibility in mind, PF, a possible war between the US and China within a decade or so. If the US cornered too much on the economic front by China, war might be the way out for the US military establishment. They might not do it openly, but they could wage a proxy war over Ujghurstan and Tibet, or even Taiwan – all cards up the sleeve for the US when the tough must get going.

By: cb

cb — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:57:22 +0000

Yes, the unimaginable happens with unmistakable regularity. That is one of the lessons of history. And the debasement of currency seems to be one of the ingredients that accompanies the collapse, although I cannot be sure whether it is there primarily as a cause, or mostly as symptom.

By: Peter Fraser

Peter Fraser — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:42:31 +0000

cb – probably no-one will read this post, but China will probably have a peak between late this century and mid next century, and then wane as it devours not only it’s own product but everyone elses as well. It will turn from a low cost producer to a demanding consumer at some point. Throw in some world population control problems, energy supply problems, political problems as the east is the new west, ecological issues, food supply issues, and there are heaps of problems with the potential to derail China, but it won’t be in this decade, or perhaps in our lifetime, but history has taught us that empires come and go.

Bye.

By: cb

cb — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:45:18 +0000

but, hey, you make hay while the sun shines, don’t you? So, the more dirt we can sell for good money, the less there will be for the next sand storm to dump into the sea. What a waste, we could have sold all that dirt.

By: cb

cb — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:42:50 +0000

ps. by the giant I do not mean the Dragon, of course.

By: cb

cb — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:41:12 +0000

Yes, just a little too much hoping about China continuing to do well. And they probably will, until they don’t. And therefore, we continue to remain vulnerable for a king hit, should a black swan event knock them out cold. What could that be? Let me speculate a little:
One possbility would be if the giant is cornered and sees no better way out than having a fight. In such a fight, we will inevitably aligned with the giant. But in such an event, I suppose, we will have a war economy to energise us and keep us ticking over, but I have no idea what such a rotten development would really mean.

By: Peter Fraser

Peter Fraser — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:38:58 +0000

PuntPay – Sorry mate, I have to put your rent up by 10%, I’m sure you understand. Thanks for the savings too, that means my bank has less reliance on offshore borrowings at a higher rate, so I can save there as well.

I do agree about China. We will make a mountain out of our trade with them, but we as a nation need to save some of it, because that heavy reliance on just one big customer does leave us very vunerable. In business finance that is considered a no no.

The problems may not come for 100 years, but they will come.

Go the Broncos. Sorry mate I just had to say that knowing that you have money on an Eels/Storm Grand Final.

By: PuntPal

PuntPal — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:58:05 +0000

PF – you are right, tenants like me have made y0ur investments in property pay off…that, and a whole lot of meddling by the Government and credit expanision by the banks to fuel this ponzi.

But havent you heard, savers are back in fashion. Those idiots like me, that actually believe you should have at least 20% of a deposit for a house before you make the purchase, are becoming the norm. Lets see how much you appreciate tenants like me when we start buying our landlords house in a firesale!

cb – China’s industrial emergence is guaranteed, no doubt about that. But there are so many hurdles from here that it is very optimistic Australia can just keep riding this mineral boom. Eventually, trade wars, environmental degredation, civil unrest amongst young dissidents and the collapse of the US consumer empire will bring the world economy back to its knees.

We are fortunate to be linked to China through trade, however we are placing way too much importance on that relationship and have no real plan B if things do pan out like the DR and MM teams are suggesting.

By: cb

cb — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:36:04 +0000

thanks, etch, I have. It certainly confirms the overall impression I have of what in fact is happening. All this optimism in the share market and the green shoots that our political leaders and banksters are pushing would be far mor likely to be due to green weeds they have been smoking, than what they are trying to suggest. Who do they think they are fooling? Hmmmm, maybe quite a lot of people. I just dunno. I, for sure, do not belive a thing they are saying, if I do not see independent evidence of it from non-partisan sources who are free of vested interest.

By: etch

etch — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:23:05 +0000

cb check this out

http://www.elliottwave.com/freeupdates/archives/2009/09/21/Global-Cargo-A-Ship-Stuck-at-Sea.aspx