Bernanke, You Stupid Bastard

[Arkie]

Yes, you.

And Trichet, and the rest of the Central Bank fools.

But especially you, Bernanke.

There's dumb and then there's really dumb. Let's take a short walk back down history lane.

You were sure there was no housing bubble.

Then you were sure it wouldn't pop.

Then you were sure when the subprime problem hit, that it wouldn't cause a recession.

Then you were sure you had it under control with Bear Stearns' hedge funds.

Then you were sure you had it under control with Bear Stearns itself.

Then you were sure it was under control with Lehman, even though you had to know Citibank and others were refusing their collateral in the repo market.

You were sure QE would support higher bond prices - and lower yields. The exact opposite thing happened.

You were sure QE2 would suppress long end yields. The exact opposite thing happened.

Oh yeah, you made excuses both times, but in fact you publicly said that in both cases the exact opposite thing would happen that did.

Now let's look at what happened just today.

Oil went up almost $7 today for the WTI contract. For each dollar that crude oil rises, we transfer roughly $95 billion (estimates vary from $90-100) outside of the United States.

That's a direct hit to GDP.

In ONE DAY the entire impact of your so-called "QE2" was ERASED.

(As an aside, yes, I can do the math on the direct import numbers; the argument here is on the total economic impact, which is as noted above. Estimates there vary somewhat, but they're centered around $90-100 billion/year/dollar increase.)

Your entire gambit and what you sold to Congress and President Obama was that you could "restart" credit expansion with your policies. Implicit in your policy was a need to do so, because without it you cannot succeed. The World Economic Forum at Davos released a paper saying that we needed, collectively, to add one hundred trillion dollars of new debt to the system to support the paltry growth numbers you and your economists are putting up. Worse, the CBO stuck up numbers in the TBAC report that show another doubling of Federal Debt in the next nine years and a rough quadrupling of debt service costs to $800 billion, implying a paltry 3% blended rate.

We had the collapse starting in 2007 because people couldn't afford the debt they already had and yet your entire scheme, to succeed, requires doubling all systemic debt AGAIN.

So how are you going to do it Ben?

Who's going to take on that debt, and how are they going to service it?

You know damn well it can't work, and won't. You also know damn well you've goaded and prodded the Federal Government into taking on $4.5 trillion in debt we cannot afford, or nearly 30% of GDP.

How are you going to take that back off Bernanke? You keep being asked this, but all you say is that you're confident "you have the tools."

Uh huh.

You don't have jack and you know damn well you can't pull your pump-job back one iota without laying bare on the table the fact that the Federal Government is supporting 12% of GDP with borrowed money. If it disappears we have an instant Depression worse than the 1930s.

The bad news is that if you keep this crap up it will disappear by force of the market, there's not a damn thing you can do to prevent it, and that day is rapidly approaching.

EVERY prediction you've made about the economy over the last five years has been wrong.

All of them.

The market is rising only because you're "promising" infinite leverage.

But infinite leverage means certain financial ruin if you're wrong about external forces. And the economy is not a closed system under your control. You cannot control other nations, you cannot control commodity speculators and you cannot control other central banks and politicians. You think you can force China off their peg, but they can suppress riots longer than we can. You think you can keep printing but now Egypt has gone down, Libya is collapsing and if Saudi Arabia folds you're instantly ****ED and so are the rest of us.

Never mind that it's not just the Middle East. What if Venezuela folds? Mexico goes feral with their drug war? How about South Korea, which now has how many banks closed due to runs?

The longer you keep this crap up the worse the instability will become. Eventually something will break that's important, and then it's too late.

You can't win this game Bernanke. And the longer you keep trying to protect the banks that should have been shut down and taken into receivership in 2007 the more damage you're going to do. When the history books are written on this catastrophe your name is going to be featured in bright lights as the personal architect and chief jackass who pontificated that he knew it all because he studied The Great Depression.

Yeah, you studied it all right. And now you're duplicating the mistakes made then, writ even larger.

There are no statesmen left in this nation when it comes to Congress. Not one who will haul your ass in front of them by force of subpoena, put your clear and public record of "accuracy" in front of you and then demand that you justify your twisting of the clear English language to come up with "2% inflation" as your "interpretation" of STABLE PRICES.

You're going to fail Bernanke. You're failing right now. You've destroyed one nation's government and this evening, as I write this, a second is falling apart. The madman behind the second, Qaddafi, has apparently ordered his military to strafe civilians, murdering hundreds.

But behind it all, your policies and those of your cronies, believing in an indefinite Ponzi Scheme of exponential debt without bound, are responsible for every bit of what's happening today worldwide - and what is to come tomorrow.

The only way you can stop it is to admit you were wrong, pull liquidity and allow the insolvent institutions to collapse. And collapse they will - all of them. I'm convinced you know that too. And I'm also convinced that there's three words you will never utter so long as you infest Washington DC: I ****ed up.

So here we sit as Americans, with no solution. There is nobody in Congress or The Administration that has the balls to stop you, and you're too much of a douche to admit you blew it and do what should have been done three years ago.

As a result, all we have left is to be prepared for what's to come.

It's not going to be pretty, and I hope Americans are ready for it.

Congratulations Ben Bernnake. Your place in history is secure, and I'm sure Beelzebub thanks you daily for your cooperation.

Some day I'm quite sure you'll meet him face-to-face.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=180591

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Bernanke, just like the tool before him, serves at the pleasure of a small circle of insiders who make fortunes by creating bubbles and then betting against them.

[Boomhauer]

Not sure how many visiting the WRP thread will actually understand your complaints, but any that do, I'd also pose these questions;

1) What's the difference between a Ponzi scheme and a speculation bubble?
I'd submit Ponzis rely on fabricated information while speculation relys on fabricated 'expert' opinions.

2) What's the difference between a Ponzi scheme and our economic 'recovery'?
With a brick of cash stolen from taxpayers to grease the gears, followed by doctored economic data (Slowing/halting foreclosures to drag out the accelerating housing collapse. Shuffling the unemployed into a seperate 'permanently unemployed' catagory to claim unemployement is dropping. Stealing more cash from taxpayers to boost the finacial sector to immitate GDP growth. Running the printing presses full speed and promising runaway inflation to bolster commodity speculation.) it seems there is no difference.

3) What's the common outcome of Ponzi schemes, speculation bubbles and our current economic 'recovery'?
I'd say they all end with the same amount of money they started with, but some get rich off those they rob. In the case of our economy, it's the near future that's bankrupted by this.

4) What actions differetiate someone employed at Goldman Sachs and a Fed Chairman or Treasury Sec that used to be?
I'd say not a dang thing. Crooks are crooks and finacial experts aren't economists.

[loborugger]

Stupid like a fox... he & his cadre are making bazillions and we are picking up the tab.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Interesting you mention other economic engines like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, et al. Bernanke's effectively said that he doesn't give a rat's arse about the effect of his policies on external nations. He claims that he is solely concerned with righting the American ship and plainly says he doesn't care about global inflation.

He's unwilling to see the big picture and for that, he should be put out to pasture. Dude's become a caricature and a poster child for bloated banking infrastructures, manipulation and misallocation of money, and long discredited economic models. I'm not sure I'd wish Hell on the guy but it comes down to the same thing as our dear president--he's either incompetent or corrupt. Neither is a positive, both are probably more likely.

[orinjkrush]

the threat to national security that has been wrought by these banksters is TREASONOUS.

they should be put in jail on charges of treason. they have injured the nation more than any spy.

"to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC..."

its not what they knew or should have known, its what they effected.

[baja]

Yes, you.

And Trichet, and the rest of the Central Bank fools.

But especially you, Bernanke.

There's dumb and then there's really dumb. Let's take a short walk back down history lane.

You were sure there was no housing bubble.

Then you were sure it wouldn't pop.

Then you were sure when the subprime problem hit, that it wouldn't cause a recession.

Then you were sure you had it under control with Bear Stearns' hedge funds.

Then you were sure you had it under control with Bear Stearns itself.

Then you were sure it was under control with Lehman, even though you had to know Citibank and others were refusing their collateral in the repo market.

You were sure QE would support higher bond prices - and lower yields. The exact opposite thing happened.

You were sure QE2 would suppress long end yields. The exact opposite thing happened.

Oh yeah, you made excuses both times, but in fact you publicly said that in both cases the exact opposite thing would happen that did.

Now let's look at what happened just today.

Oil went up almost $7 today for the WTI contract. For each dollar that crude oil rises, we transfer roughly $95 billion (estimates vary from $90-100) outside of the United States.

That's a direct hit to GDP.

In ONE DAY the entire impact of your so-called "QE2" was ERASED.

(As an aside, yes, I can do the math on the direct import numbers; the argument here is on the total economic impact, which is as noted above. Estimates there vary somewhat, but they're centered around $90-100 billion/year/dollar increase.)

Your entire gambit and what you sold to Congress and President Obama was that you could "restart" credit expansion with your policies. Implicit in your policy was a need to do so, because without it you cannot succeed. The World Economic Forum at Davos released a paper saying that we needed, collectively, to add one hundred trillion dollars of new debt to the system to support the paltry growth numbers you and your economists are putting up. Worse, the CBO stuck up numbers in the TBAC report that show another doubling of Federal Debt in the next nine years and a rough quadrupling of debt service costs to $800 billion, implying a paltry 3% blended rate.

We had the collapse starting in 2007 because people couldn't afford the debt they already had and yet your entire scheme, to succeed, requires doubling all systemic debt AGAIN.

So how are you going to do it Ben?

Who's going to take on that debt, and how are they going to service it?

You know damn well it can't work, and won't. You also know damn well you've goaded and prodded the Federal Government into taking on $4.5 trillion in debt we cannot afford, or nearly 30% of GDP.

How are you going to take that back off Bernanke? You keep being asked this, but all you say is that you're confident "you have the tools."

Uh huh.

You don't have jack and you know damn well you can't pull your pump-job back one iota without laying bare on the table the fact that the Federal Government is supporting 12% of GDP with borrowed money. If it disappears we have an instant Depression worse than the 1930s.

The bad news is that if you keep this crap up it will disappear by force of the market, there's not a damn thing you can do to prevent it, and that day is rapidly approaching.

EVERY prediction you've made about the economy over the last five years has been wrong.

All of them.

The market is rising only because you're "promising" infinite leverage.

But infinite leverage means certain financial ruin if you're wrong about external forces. And the economy is not a closed system under your control. You cannot control other nations, you cannot control commodity speculators and you cannot control other central banks and politicians. You think you can force China off their peg, but they can suppress riots longer than we can. You think you can keep printing but now Egypt has gone down, Libya is collapsing and if Saudi Arabia folds you're instantly ****ED and so are the rest of us.

Never mind that it's not just the Middle East. What if Venezuela folds? Mexico goes feral with their drug war? How about South Korea, which now has how many banks closed due to runs?

The longer you keep this crap up the worse the instability will become. Eventually something will break that's important, and then it's too late.

You can't win this game Bernanke. And the longer you keep trying to protect the banks that should have been shut down and taken into receivership in 2007 the more damage you're going to do. When the history books are written on this catastrophe your name is going to be featured in bright lights as the personal architect and chief jackass who pontificated that he knew it all because he studied The Great Depression.

Yeah, you studied it all right. And now you're duplicating the mistakes made then, writ even larger.

There are no statesmen left in this nation when it comes to Congress. Not one who will haul your ass in front of them by force of subpoena, put your clear and public record of "accuracy" in front of you and then demand that you justify your twisting of the clear English language to come up with "2% inflation" as your "interpretation" of STABLE PRICES.

You're going to fail Bernanke. You're failing right now. You've destroyed one nation's government and this evening, as I write this, a second is falling apart. The madman behind the second, Qaddafi, has apparently ordered his military to strafe civilians, murdering hundreds.

But behind it all, your policies and those of your cronies, believing in an indefinite Ponzi Scheme of exponential debt without bound, are responsible for every bit of what's happening today worldwide - and what is to come tomorrow.

The only way you can stop it is to admit you were wrong, pull liquidity and allow the insolvent institutions to collapse. And collapse they will - all of them. I'm convinced you know that too. And I'm also convinced that there's three words you will never utter so long as you infest Washington DC: I ****ed up.

So here we sit as Americans, with no solution. There is nobody in Congress or The Administration that has the balls to stop you, and you're too much of a douche to admit you blew it and do what should have been done three years ago.

As a result, all we have left is to be prepared for what's to come.

It's not going to be pretty, and I hope Americans are ready for it.

Congratulations Ben Bernnake. Your place in history is secure, and I'm sure Beelzebub thanks you daily for your cooperation.

Some day I'm quite sure you'll meet him face-to-face.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=180591

You're nuts! Bernanke is not stupid he is doing exactly what he is instructed to do, destroy the US economy

[Arkie]

You're nuts! Bernanke is not stupid he is doing exactly what he is instructed to do, destroy the US economy

I know. That's even worse. At some point someone in authority would be calling for Bernanke to resign. Accountability has to begin somewhere unless it's all part of the plan.

[Fedaykin]

Yup, our government has been bought and paid for for a long time. When Reagan rolled over and surrendered entirely in the 80s he set in motion the end of our republic.

To be fair, if it weren't Reagan it would have been some other president and previous Presidents paved the way for us to go over the cliff. Reagan just took our collective foot off the emergency brake and stomped on the accelerator.

[Arkie]

http://www.meltingpotproject.com/.a/6a00e5501bb44a883301156f29efcd970c-800wi
Aug. 2, 2010
"The financial crisis appears to be mostly behind us, and the economy seems to have stabilized and is expanding again."

June 9, 2008
"The risk that the economy has entered a substantial downturn appears to have diminished over the past month or so."

Jan. 18, 2008
"The U.S. economy has a strong labor force, excellent productivity and technology, and a deep and liquid financial market that is in the process of repairing itself."

Jan. 18, 2008
(Two months before Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapsed and were nationalized) "They will make it through the storm."

Jan. 10, 2008
"The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession."

May 17, 2007
We do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.

March 28, 2007
"At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained. In particular, mortgages to prime borrowers and fixed-rate mortgages to all classes of borrowers continue to perform well, with low rates of delinquency."

Feb. 15, 2006
"Housing markets are cooling a bit. Our expectation is that the decline in activity or the slowing in activity will be moderate, that house prices will probably continue to rise."

July, 2005
"We’ve never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis. So, what I think what is more likely is that house prices will slow, maybe stabilize, might slow consumption spending a bit. I don’t think it’s gonna drive the economy too far from its full employment path, though."

Nov. 21, 2002
"The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost."

[Odysseus]

Freaking hilarious thread! Arkie! You are man among little boys!

[baja]

I know. That's even worse. At some point someone in authority would be calling for Bernanke to resign. Accountability has to begin somewhere unless it's all part of the plan.


You made the point that Bernanke made the most destructive move 100% of the time. This is not stupidity. Stupid never gets it wrong 100% of the time. It takes talent, purpose and intention to get it "wrong" (or right) 100% of the time.

[Odysseus]

I know. That's even worse. At some point someone in authority would be calling for Bernanke to resign. Accountability has to begin somewhere unless it's all part of the plan.

Why would anyone who is well off call out Bernake? What if you knew for certainty that economic ruin was going to happen on (insert date). Would you

A. Tell everyone
B. Tell nobody
C. Rob the bank

Let them eat cake.

[baja]

Freaking hilarious thread! Arkie! You are man among little boys!

I beg your pardon...

[baja]

Why would anyone who is well off call out Bernake? What if you knew for certainty that economic ruin was going to happen on (insert date). Would you

A. Tell everyone
B. Tell nobody
C. Rob the bank

Let them eat cake.

RE; your rep comment. It's not so much that people are stupid it's more about the truth of what is happening is so scary and so threatening at a core existence level that people can not afford to see what is right in front of them it is too much to fathom.

[Odysseus]

I beg your pardon...

Don't be jealous! :thanku:

Each poster brings their own value in my eyes. I get a kick out of Arkie. How often do you see this guy tirade?

[Odysseus]

RE; your rep comment. It's not so much that people are stupid it's more about the truth of what is happening is so scary and so threatening at a core existence level that people can not afford to see what is right in front of them it is too much to fathom.

People are scared but do not really realize this is the issue. They call it something else but people are scared ****less right now.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

the threat to national security that has been wrought by these banksters is TREASONOUS.

they should be put in jail on charges of treason. they have injured the nation more than any spy.

"to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC..."

its not what they knew or should have known, its what they effected.

They don't give a sh*t about national security - all they care about is their own financial security. The American people are little more than chattel to these elitist handjobs.

Inasmuch as the "golden rule" applies, they are above accountability.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Charts show growing rich-poor gap
<big style="font-weight: bold;">That's what happens when Obama coddles the super-rich </big><big style="font-weight: bold;">

</big><big>Link</big> (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110223/ts_yblog_thelookout/separate-but-unequal-charts-show-growing-rich-poor-gap)
<big style="font-weight: bold;">
http://www.bartcop.com/chart-rich-poor-2011.jpg </big><big></big><big style="font-weight: bold;">
</big>

[Boomhauer]

People are scared but do not really realize this is the issue. They call it something else but people are scared ****less right now.

What's frightening about the roof being on fire? It's probably only the Babyboomers that are scared now that the chickens are coming home at the same time health is leaving them. Since their generation is what destroyed American society and economy, I say don't bother fixing anything until they're gone.
http://img.chan4chan.com/img/2010-04-25/epic-fire.jpg

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

What's frightening about the roof being on fire? It's probably only the Babyboomers that are scared now that the chickens are coming home at the same time health is leaving them. Since their generation is what destroyed American society and economy, I say why start fixing until they're gone.

Way to broad brush/scapegoat an entire generation of Americans.

The Bush Youth and their mommy and daddy issues... :oyvey:

[Boomhauer]

Bush-No. Youth-No. Parental issues-No. But nice job looking like an idiot.
Did you get a quack degree off a CrackerJacks box, or is this from the uber-left playbook for dummies?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Bush-No. Youth-No. Parental issues-No.

http://www.missattitude.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/denial.jpg


But nice job looking like an idiot.

This from a guy whose posts are nothing more than a compendium of warmed-over Rehab Rush and Glenn Beck talking points.

Classic! :D


Did you get a quack degree off a CrackerJacks box, or is this from the uber-left playbook for dummies?

Wow - did you come up with that incisive rebuttal all by yourself, or did you have help? :mullet2:

[Boomhauer]

...Wow - did you come up with that incisive rebuttal all by yourself, or did you have help? :mullet2:

OG sugar, unlike the script you require, which is why there's truth in my words while yours are hollow.

[baja]

People are scared but do not really realize this is the issue. They call it something else but people are scared ****less right now.

Frozen with fear is more like it. If they knew the extent of what was coming they would be motivated beyond any other time in history to make quantum changes in how we do life. They will 'see' only when we are further along in the carnage but millions maybe even billions will have to transcend out of their bodies before those remaining souls make the quantum leap in consciousness that is required to remain in this particular life expression. I think the bible calls it "The Quickening"

[baja]

Blowharder - What's frightening about the roof being on fire? It's probably only the Baby boomers that are scared now that the chickens are coming home at the same time health is leaving them. Since their generation is what destroyed American society and economy, I say don't bother fixing anything until they're gone.

Yes America is great at tossing to the curb it's wise elders. The American Indians were appalled when they saw this and correctly predicted that a society that did not value it's elders would not be around very long.

[Boomhauer]

Yes America is great at tossing to the curb it's wise elders. The American Indians were appalled when they saw this and correctly predicted that a society that did not value it's elders would not be around very long.

Respect where respect is due.
America's greatest generation saved the world and built the greatest country from the ruins of the Great Depression. America's worst generation that immediatley followed has lived and done the exact opposite. For current and future generations, these two give clear lessons for what is best and what mistakes should not be repeated, respectively. Similarily, you could look to past civilizations to see what made them prosper or fall, but shouldn't automatically say they were all great and should be respected or repeated just because they're old.

[baja]

Respect where respect is due.
America's greatest generation saved the world and built the greatest country from the ruins of the Great Depression. America's worst generation that immediatley followed has lived and done the exact opposite. For current and future generations, these two give clear lessons for what is best and what mistakes should not be repeated, respectively. Similarily, you could look to past civilizations to see what made them prosper or fall,<b> but shouldn't automatically say they were all great and should be respected or repeated just because they're old.

I'm not the one painting with the broad brush here. You just dismissed an entire generation.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I'm not the one painting with the broad brush here. You just dismissed an entire generation.

Somebody has some serious mommy and/or daddy issues, eh? Ha!

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Who Really Owns America?

Regardless of how much closer Obama's budget brings our economy into a balance of payments not seen since 2001, we will continue to run deficits for the next decade, and the national debt will keep growing every year that happens.
<table style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 222, 238); margin: 10px;" align="right" width="40%"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 10px;"> More from MainStreet.com (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=10v288kbg/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/)

• The Most Debt-Ridden Cities (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=13hf1t1m8/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/moneyinvesting/credit/debt/most-debt-ridden-cities%3Fcm_ven=yahoomspromo)

• 6 Things Obama Has Done to Your Wallet (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=13mbm7ton/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/moneyinvesting/news/5-things-obama-has-done-your-wallet%3Fcm_ven=yahoomspromo)

• The Highest Taxes in the World (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=137c2hrps/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/moneyinvesting/taxes/highest-taxes-world%3Fcm_ven=yahoomspromo)</td></tr></tbody></table>While most of the country's $14 trillion debt is held by private banks in the U.S., the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board estimate that, as of December, about $4.4 trillion of it was held by foreign governments (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=12kqnvji5/**http%3A//www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt) that purchase our treasury securities much as an investor buys shares in a company and comes to own his or her little chunk of the organization.
Looking at the list of our top international creditors, a few overall characteristics show some interesting trends: Three of the top 10 spots are held by China and its constituent parts, and while two of our biggest creditors are fellow English-speaking democracies, a considerable share of our debt is held by oil exporters that tend to be decidedly less friendly in other areas of international relations.
Here we break down the top 10 foreign holders of U.S. debt, comparing each creditor's holdings with the equivalent chunk of the United States they "own," represented by the latest (2009) state gross domestic product data (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=12be9absv/**http%3A//www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/gdp_state/gsp_newsrelease.htm) released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Obviously, these creditors won't actually take states from us as payment on our debts, but it's fun to imagine what states and national monuments they could assert a claim to.
<table style="margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 3px;" align="left" width="190"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 3px;"> http://l.yimg.com/a/p/fi/36/26/01.jpg
<small>©Radar Communication</small></td></tr></tbody></table><big>1. Mainland China</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $891.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 20.4%
Building on the holdings of its associated territories, China is undisputedly the largest holder of U.S. foreign debt in the world. Accounting for 20.4% of the total, mainland China's $891.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities is almost equal to the combined 2009 GDP of Illinois ($630.4 billion) and Indiana ($262.6 billion) in 2009, a shade higher at a combined $893 billion. As President Obama -- who is from Chicago -- wrangles over his proposed budget with Congress he may be wise to remember that his home city may be at stake in the deal.
<big>2. Japan</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $883.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 20.2%
The runner-up on the list of our most significant international creditors goes to Japan, which accounts for over a fifth of our foreign debt holdings with $883.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities. That astronomical number is just shy of the combined GDP of a significant chunk of the lower 48: Minnesota ($260.7 billion), Wisconsin ($244.4 billion), Iowa ($142.3 billion) and Missouri ($239.8 billion) produced a combined output of $887.2 billion in 2009.
<big>3. United Kingdom</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $541.3 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 12.4%
At number three on the list is perhaps our closest ally on the world stage, the United Kingdom (which includes the British provinces of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). The U.K. holds $541.3 billion in U.S. foreign debt, which is 12.4% of our total external debt. That amount is equivalent to the combined GDP of two East Coast manufacturing hubs, Delaware ($60.6 billion) and New Jersey ($483 billion) -- which was named, yes, after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The two states' combined output in 2009 came to $543.6 billion.
[World's Most Innovative Companies (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=10qr7qdfm/**http%3A//yhoo.it/eHO4ZU)]
<big>4. Oil Exporters</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $218 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 5%
Another grouped entry, the oil exporters form another international bloc with money to burn. The group includes 15 countries as diverse as the regions they represent: Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria. As a group they hold 5% of all American foreign debt, with a combined $218 billion of U.S. treasury securities in their own treasuries. That's roughly equivalent to the combined 2009 GDP of Nebraska ($86.4 billion) and Kansas ($124.9 billion), which seems to be an equal trade: The two states produce a bunch of grain for export, which many of the arid oil producers tend to trade for oil.
<table style="margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 3px;" align="right" width="175"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 3px;"> http://l.yimg.com/a/p/fi/36/26/02.jpg
<small>©MS Illustration/Public Domain</small></td></tr></tbody></table><big>5. Brazil</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $180.8 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 4.1%
Rounding out the top five is the largest economy in South America, Brazil. The country known for its beaches, Carnaval and the unbridled hedonism that goes along with both has made a big investment in the U.S., buying up $180.8 billion in American debt up to December. That's almost equal to the $180.5 billion combined GDP of Idaho ($54 billion) and Nevada ($126.5 billion), a state that is no stranger to hedonism itself.
<big>6. Caribbean Banking Centers</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $155.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.6%
You have to have cash on hand to buy up U.S. government debt, and offshore banking has given six countries the combined capital needed to make the Caribbean Banking Centers our sixth-largest foreign creditor. The Treasury Department counts the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Panama and the British Virgin Islands in this designation, which as a group holds $155.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities. That's equivalent to the GDP of landlocked Kentucky ($156.6 billion), whose residents may not actually mind if they were ever to become an extension of some Caribbean island paradise.
[The Top Franchises For the Money (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=10qofnb40/**http%3A//yhoo.it/gMoXF7)]
<big>7. Hong Kong</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $138.2 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.2%
At No. 7 on the list of our foreign creditors is Hong Kong, a formerly British part of China that maintains a separate government and economic ties than the communist mainland. With $138.2 billion in U.S. treasury securities, the capitalist enclave could lay claim to Yellowstone Park and our nation's capital: The combined GDP of Wyoming ($37.5 billion) and Washington D.C. ($99.1 billion) totaled $136.6 billion in 2009.
<table style="margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 3px;" align="left" width="175"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 3px;"> http://l.yimg.com/a/p/fi/36/26/03.jpg
<small>©MS Illustration/Public Domain</small></td></tr></tbody></table><big>8. Canada</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $134.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.1%
They say that a friend in need is a friend indeed, and our neighbor to the north has proven to be a kind and generous creditor in our time of financial need. Canada holds about 3.1% of our foreign debt, or $134.6 billion. If friend were to become enemy and Canada were looking to annex some U.S. land to cover the debt though, the country would have an easy time of it. The combined GDP of Maine ($51.3 billion), New Hampshire ($59.4 billion) and Vermont ($25.4 billion) comes close to Canada's debt holdings at $136.1 billion.
Residents of the three states in our extreme northeast corner should start practicing their French: They might become Québécois one of these days.
<big>9. Taiwan</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $131.9 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.0%
Taiwan, an island barely 100 miles off the coast of China, is claimed by the People's Republic of China, despite having its own government and economic relations with the outside world. Part of those economic relations includes the island's holding of $131.9 billion of U.S. debt, roughly equivalent to the combined GDP of West Virginia ($63.3 billion) and Hawaii ($66.4 billion), which totals $129.7 billion.
Unless we get our spending in check, we risk losing some of our most visually stunning territory (West Virginia, obviously) to our friendly neighbors on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
<big>10. Russia</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $106.2 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 2.4%
Starting off the list of our major foreign creditors is Russia, which holds about 2.4% of the U.S. debt pie that sits on the international dinner table. Its $106.2 billion in treasury securities is equivalent to the 2009 GDP of our sparsely populated North: The combined output of North Dakota ($31.9 billion), South Dakota ($38.3 billion) and Montana ($36 billion) matches up nicely with the Russian holdings, at $106.2 billion.
<noscript>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=Vu_aG0PDkjkuwt2NTWvk0wAXQ6CzHk1sAH0ADdM7&T=17saktvh0%2fX%3d1298923645%2fE%3d2142045428%2fR% 3dfin%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3dH%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d 72834870%2fH%3dc2VydmVJZD0iVnVfYUcwUERramt1d3QyTlR Xdmswd0FYUTZDekhrMXNBSDBBRGRNNyIgc2l0ZUlkPSI0NDUxM DUxIiB0U3RtcD0iMTI5ODkyMzY0NTkwMDU1MiIg%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d6492C343&U=12c0t77dl%2fN%3dWWjrD9j8ek8-%2fC%3d-1%2fD%3dFSQR%2fB%3d-1%2fV%3d0</noscript> Let's hope Russian president Dmitry Medvedev doesn't come to collect.

[Boomhauer]

The Bush Youth and their mommy and daddy issues...

Somebody has some serious mommy and/or daddy issues, eh?

You really can't help but make a complete az out of yourself, can you. As the saying goes, there's no cure for stupid.

Here's a hint if you'd like to try; Reading the left-wing idiot's guide to psychobabble and making inaccurate and idiotic statements based on the horse tihs you consume only diludes yourself and anyone stupid enough to give your convolusions a thought.
I suppose I should thank you though. Someone has to win the Darwin Award and you aligning with and trying to recruit the recipiants makes the world a better place once you're gone. My only question is, "Could you hurry up?". You and the rest of 'Progressives' failed attempts to de-evolve mankind are holding up real progress.

[Arkie]

When somebody is 100% wrong, then you can take the opposite of what they say as fact.

"I don't think that Chinese ownership of U.S. assets is so large as to put our country at risk economically." Bernanke 2/16/2006

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

You really can't help but make a complete az out of yourself, can you. As the saying goes, there's no cure for stupid.

Here's a hint if you'd like to try; Reading the left-wing idiot's guide to psychobabble and making inaccurate and idiotic statements based on the horse tihs you consume only diludes yourself and anyone stupid enough to give your convolusions a thought.
I suppose I should thank you though. Someone has to win the Darwin Award and you aligning with and trying to recruit the recipiants makes the world a better place once you're gone. My only question is, "Could you hurry up?". You and the rest of 'Progressives' failed attempts to de-evolve mankind are holding up real progress.

Wow.

I think you just took the blue ribbon for posts that consist of nothing but ad hominem sound and fury...

Talk about stringing a bunch of epithets together and pawning them off as an "argument."

[Meck77]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Could someone email this link to the stupid bastard? What's he going to do to fix this mess now? lower rates again? uhhhh

[baja]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Could someone email this link to the stupid bastard? What's he going to do to fix this mess now? lower rates again? uhhhh

You are starting to sound like me when, according to you, I was sounding like a traitor.

Glad you are waking up to what has been going on around you for many years, now if you look a little deeper you will see it's all deliberate.

[JJJ]

Who Really Owns America?

Regardless of how much closer Obama's budget brings our economy into a balance of payments not seen since 2001, we will continue to run deficits for the next decade, and the national debt will keep growing every year that happens.
<table style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 222, 238); margin: 10px;" align="right" width="40%"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 10px;"> More from MainStreet.com (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=10v288kbg/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/)

• The Most Debt-Ridden Cities (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=13hf1t1m8/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/moneyinvesting/credit/debt/most-debt-ridden-cities%3Fcm_ven=yahoomspromo)

• 6 Things Obama Has Done to Your Wallet (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=13mbm7ton/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/moneyinvesting/news/5-things-obama-has-done-your-wallet%3Fcm_ven=yahoomspromo)

• The Highest Taxes in the World (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=137c2hrps/**http%3A//www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/moneyinvesting/taxes/highest-taxes-world%3Fcm_ven=yahoomspromo)</td></tr></tbody></table>While most of the country's $14 trillion debt is held by private banks in the U.S., the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board estimate that, as of December, about $4.4 trillion of it was held by foreign governments (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=12kqnvji5/**http%3A//www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt) that purchase our treasury securities much as an investor buys shares in a company and comes to own his or her little chunk of the organization.
Looking at the list of our top international creditors, a few overall characteristics show some interesting trends: Three of the top 10 spots are held by China and its constituent parts, and while two of our biggest creditors are fellow English-speaking democracies, a considerable share of our debt is held by oil exporters that tend to be decidedly less friendly in other areas of international relations.
Here we break down the top 10 foreign holders of U.S. debt, comparing each creditor's holdings with the equivalent chunk of the United States they "own," represented by the latest (2009) state gross domestic product data (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=12be9absv/**http%3A//www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/gdp_state/gsp_newsrelease.htm) released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Obviously, these creditors won't actually take states from us as payment on our debts, but it's fun to imagine what states and national monuments they could assert a claim to.
<table style="margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 3px;" align="left" width="190"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 3px;"> http://l.yimg.com/a/p/fi/36/26/01.jpg
<small>©Radar Communication</small></td></tr></tbody></table><big>1. Mainland China</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $891.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 20.4%
Building on the holdings of its associated territories, China is undisputedly the largest holder of U.S. foreign debt in the world. Accounting for 20.4% of the total, mainland China's $891.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities is almost equal to the combined 2009 GDP of Illinois ($630.4 billion) and Indiana ($262.6 billion) in 2009, a shade higher at a combined $893 billion. As President Obama -- who is from Chicago -- wrangles over his proposed budget with Congress he may be wise to remember that his home city may be at stake in the deal.
<big>2. Japan</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $883.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 20.2%
The runner-up on the list of our most significant international creditors goes to Japan, which accounts for over a fifth of our foreign debt holdings with $883.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities. That astronomical number is just shy of the combined GDP of a significant chunk of the lower 48: Minnesota ($260.7 billion), Wisconsin ($244.4 billion), Iowa ($142.3 billion) and Missouri ($239.8 billion) produced a combined output of $887.2 billion in 2009.
<big>3. United Kingdom</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $541.3 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 12.4%
At number three on the list is perhaps our closest ally on the world stage, the United Kingdom (which includes the British provinces of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). The U.K. holds $541.3 billion in U.S. foreign debt, which is 12.4% of our total external debt. That amount is equivalent to the combined GDP of two East Coast manufacturing hubs, Delaware ($60.6 billion) and New Jersey ($483 billion) -- which was named, yes, after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The two states' combined output in 2009 came to $543.6 billion.
[World's Most Innovative Companies (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=10qr7qdfm/**http%3A//yhoo.it/eHO4ZU)]
<big>4. Oil Exporters</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $218 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 5%
Another grouped entry, the oil exporters form another international bloc with money to burn. The group includes 15 countries as diverse as the regions they represent: Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria. As a group they hold 5% of all American foreign debt, with a combined $218 billion of U.S. treasury securities in their own treasuries. That's roughly equivalent to the combined 2009 GDP of Nebraska ($86.4 billion) and Kansas ($124.9 billion), which seems to be an equal trade: The two states produce a bunch of grain for export, which many of the arid oil producers tend to trade for oil.
<table style="margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 3px;" align="right" width="175"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 3px;"> http://l.yimg.com/a/p/fi/36/26/02.jpg
<small>©MS Illustration/Public Domain</small></td></tr></tbody></table><big>5. Brazil</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $180.8 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 4.1%
Rounding out the top five is the largest economy in South America, Brazil. The country known for its beaches, Carnaval and the unbridled hedonism that goes along with both has made a big investment in the U.S., buying up $180.8 billion in American debt up to December. That's almost equal to the $180.5 billion combined GDP of Idaho ($54 billion) and Nevada ($126.5 billion), a state that is no stranger to hedonism itself.
<big>6. Caribbean Banking Centers</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $155.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.6%
You have to have cash on hand to buy up U.S. government debt, and offshore banking has given six countries the combined capital needed to make the Caribbean Banking Centers our sixth-largest foreign creditor. The Treasury Department counts the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Panama and the British Virgin Islands in this designation, which as a group holds $155.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities. That's equivalent to the GDP of landlocked Kentucky ($156.6 billion), whose residents may not actually mind if they were ever to become an extension of some Caribbean island paradise.
[The Top Franchises For the Money (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=10qofnb40/**http%3A//yhoo.it/gMoXF7)]
<big>7. Hong Kong</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $138.2 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.2%
At No. 7 on the list of our foreign creditors is Hong Kong, a formerly British part of China that maintains a separate government and economic ties than the communist mainland. With $138.2 billion in U.S. treasury securities, the capitalist enclave could lay claim to Yellowstone Park and our nation's capital: The combined GDP of Wyoming ($37.5 billion) and Washington D.C. ($99.1 billion) totaled $136.6 billion in 2009.
<table style="margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 3px;" align="left" width="175"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 3px;"> http://l.yimg.com/a/p/fi/36/26/03.jpg
<small>©MS Illustration/Public Domain</small></td></tr></tbody></table><big>8. Canada</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $134.6 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.1%
They say that a friend in need is a friend indeed, and our neighbor to the north has proven to be a kind and generous creditor in our time of financial need. Canada holds about 3.1% of our foreign debt, or $134.6 billion. If friend were to become enemy and Canada were looking to annex some U.S. land to cover the debt though, the country would have an easy time of it. The combined GDP of Maine ($51.3 billion), New Hampshire ($59.4 billion) and Vermont ($25.4 billion) comes close to Canada's debt holdings at $136.1 billion.
Residents of the three states in our extreme northeast corner should start practicing their French: They might become Québécois one of these days.
<big>9. Taiwan</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $131.9 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 3.0%
Taiwan, an island barely 100 miles off the coast of China, is claimed by the People's Republic of China, despite having its own government and economic relations with the outside world. Part of those economic relations includes the island's holding of $131.9 billion of U.S. debt, roughly equivalent to the combined GDP of West Virginia ($63.3 billion) and Hawaii ($66.4 billion), which totals $129.7 billion.
Unless we get our spending in check, we risk losing some of our most visually stunning territory (West Virginia, obviously) to our friendly neighbors on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
<big>10. Russia</big>
Amount of U.S. debt: $106.2 billion
Share of total foreign debt: 2.4%
Starting off the list of our major foreign creditors is Russia, which holds about 2.4% of the U.S. debt pie that sits on the international dinner table. Its $106.2 billion in treasury securities is equivalent to the 2009 GDP of our sparsely populated North: The combined output of North Dakota ($31.9 billion), South Dakota ($38.3 billion) and Montana ($36 billion) matches up nicely with the Russian holdings, at $106.2 billion.
<noscript>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=Vu_aG0PDkjkuwt2NTWvk0wAXQ6CzHk1sAH0ADdM7&T=17saktvh0%2fX%3d1298923645%2fE%3d2142045428%2fR% 3dfin%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3dH%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d 72834870%2fH%3dc2VydmVJZD0iVnVfYUcwUERramt1d3QyTlR Xdmswd0FYUTZDekhrMXNBSDBBRGRNNyIgc2l0ZUlkPSI0NDUxM DUxIiB0U3RtcD0iMTI5ODkyMzY0NTkwMDU1MiIg%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d6492C343&U=12c0t77dl%2fN%3dWWjrD9j8ek8-%2fC%3d-1%2fD%3dFSQR%2fB%3d-1%2fV%3d0</noscript> Let's hope Russian president Dmitry Medvedev doesn't come to collect.

This is not a problem. Michael Moore says so.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

This is not a problem. Michael Moore says so.

Link?

[JJJ]

Link?

http://simonstudio.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/michael-moore-says-we-arent-in-debt-for-a-while-there-i-thought-we-were-in-debt-15-trillion/

Lets start taking his cash from him and see how much thinks its a national resource.

[Odysseus]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Could someone email this link to the stupid bastard? What's he going to do to fix this mess now? lower rates again? uhhhh

http://www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html

Wow

[JJJ]

Like most lefties Moore has basic remedial math issues.

American businesses have 3T sitting on the sidelines in the form of cash. So yes, there is a lot of money in the US. But we have a 14T debt which is projected to go over 30T as the baby boomers age.

Even if you redistribute all of that company cash and take another 1 or 2 T from all the rich guys you haven't put much of a dent in the debt and it would only take 3 years of Obama spending to wipe out what you gained.

In the longterm we can sustain 50% to 60% of our GDP in debt without any significant consequences or damage to the economy, or about 7T to 8T.

In principle we should borrow money to fund our growth within the reasonable limits above as it is better to grow with someone else's money than your own. It is the basic principle of beneficial leverage. It should be one of the natural advantages of being the world's dominant currency.

But like anything else too much of something is a bad thing. That is certainly true of our national debt at this point. It is the only issue on the table that can wreck the country completely and the last issue the democrats want to deal with.

[Meck77]

Good Ron Paul interview about Bernakes policies.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41888261/page/2/

[Obushma]

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v6sSVXIFApM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Obushma]

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IdoaqiH6GK8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

...Yes...

[Odysseus]

tick tock! tick tock!