[Lanthanide]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', 'I')'m still holding to the April 15th Tax Filing date as a watershed event, but even that won't necessarily grind the gears to a complete halt. I think at this point we could keep operating for another couple of years, though since I have been wrong on timeline setting so many times before if I think this now it probably means the system goes Blooey by the end of the year.

[Twilight]

Very good points above. Modern examples of economic collapse in industrialised countries featured a massive wealth gradient anyone with an ounce of sense could arbitrage to some extent, often right on your national border. We cannot take that for granted this time. As long as there is mankind there will always be inequality and opportunity within it, but it is hardly the same as living memory if everyone gets floored initially.

[CrudeAwakening]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('patience', 'T')here's a current thread on Tickerforum talking about this,

Falling International Reserves, the "no mas moment"?

Maybe I missed something here, and it is a different topic. I don't know squat on this sort of thing, but it quoted the same FS article.
WTF is going on here? Is the US ready to implode?

[Duende]

So - if I'm to understand, China has $2 trillion of our dollars. Our gov't is borrowing these dollars from the Chinese and giving them to faultering banks like AIG and Goldman Sachs, who in turn use them to pay off derivative obligations.

Dumb question: If this is the case, then what happens when we have to pay back the Chinese?

[VMarcHart]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Duende', '.')..what happens when we have to pay back the Chinese?

[Revi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', '
')A while back I created a thread for suggestions of alternative replacement systems which might be implemented. I think it might be time to bump that thread back up. I do not think SOMETHING won't be tried to reorganize here, so we can bet on the possibilities we can generate up In a sense, this is a great OPPORTUNITY! A chance for everyone to Start Over from scratch with a clean slate. There IS wealth left in the world, its just a question of how to distribute out what is left?

How long though before the shell game stops working? A week, a month, another quarter, a year, a decade, what? I sure wish somebody could answer that question.

Reverse Engineer

[skeptik]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Duende', '.')..what happens when we have to pay back the Chinese?

[Revi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Duende', 'S')o - if I'm to understand, China has $2 trillion of our dollars. Our gov't is borrowing these dollars from the Chinese and giving them to faultering banks like AIG and Goldman Sachs, who in turn use them to pay off derivative obligations.

Dumb question: If this is the case, then what happens when we have to pay back the Chinese?

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Revi', '
')Are we just paying off George's friends before he leaves office so that they can carry big bags of moolah with them in the lifeboats?