According to your logic if you have a credit card debt the credit card company will never let you go broke and will keep increasing your credit limit indefinitely because if you do go broke they lose money. China keeps a ton of green paper which it's not using. If the US economy collapses they will never be able to use this green paper and will probably burn it. Yes, just like any bad debt that will hurt, their finanical markets will be affected, they may have a recession etc but they will write it off, get over it and move on. They will have very little trouble finding other countries happy to take their goods and services and give them paper. We on the other side will become a banana republic. You can't go broke by making more than what you're consuming and that's what China's doing. Even if you have to write off a bad debt you're still fine. On the other side you will undoubtedly eventually go broke if you consume way more than what you produce.
. âChávez Ousts U.S. Diplomat on Spying Chargeâ By JUAN FORERO The New York Times - Published: February 3, 2006 BOGOTÃ, Colombia, Feb. 2 â President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela announced Thursday that his government had ordered the expulsion of the American naval attaché at the United States Embassy in Caracas for spying, further increasing tensions with the Bush administration. Speaking on the seventh anniversary of his ascension to power, Mr. Chávez also warned that he would order the detention and removal of any other American military officials caught spying. "If accredited military officials continue with the espionage, we will imprison them, we will order them thrown out," Mr. Chávez said. The embassy denied the accusations against the attaché, John Correa, and other high-ranking military officers. "None of the military attachés in Caracas was or is involved in inappropriate activities," Salomé Hernández, a spokeswoman in the embassy, said by phone from Caracas. Mr. Chávez's comments came on the same day that senior Bush administration officials, who have been relatively silent after weeks of constant verbal volleys by the Venezuelan leader, harshly criticized his governing style. Warning that Mr. Chávez is consolidating power at the expense of democracy, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld went so far as to compare Mr. Chávez to Hitler. "He's a person who was elected legally just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others," Mr. Rumsfeld said, referring to the Cuban leader and the new president of Bolivia, Evo Morales. "It concerns me." In testimony on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, John D. Negroponte, director of national intelligence, said Mr. Chávez "appears ready to use his control of the legislature and other institutions to continue to stifle the opposition, to reduce press freedom, and entrench himself through measures that are technically legal, but which nonetheless constrict democracy." Mr. Negroponte also said Mr. Chávez's populist government was seeking closer economic and military ties with Iran and North Korea, while meddling in the internal affairs of neighboring countries. Little, if anything, has ever been publicly raised about ties to North Korea, and Mr. Negroponte did not offer evidence. But Mr. Chávez, whose country has the hemisphere's largest oil reserves, has met with Iranian leaders and has vigorously defended Tehran's goal of developing a nuclear program. The barbs from Washington are sure to infuriate Mr. Chávez, an outspoken leftist who at every turn â in speeches, inaugurations of public works projects, his weekly television show â warns that the Bush administration is out to assassinate him. In recent days, Venezuelan officials have claimed that American Embassy officials are part of a spy ring involving dissident Venezuelan military officers. "I urge the embassy of the United States in Venezuela to stop spying," Mr. Chávez said on Monday. "We have you infiltrated." On Thursday, Mr. Chávez elaborated, saying that the rogue Venezuelan officers were providing videotapes of military exercises and personal information about high-ranking commanders. He said that the full weight of the law would come down on those officers, whom he did not name. "We will be inflexible with those traitors," he said. .
Oh, that is the last straw... All Brazilians that deliver for Domino's Pizza in the United States must return to South America!
I didn't know the U.S. has so much "influence" in Brazil. Perhaps the real influence is Brazilian capitalism --something you are trying to ignore and pin it on the U.S. as if it's some sort of imperialist import that goes against what Brazilians want. Nice try.
. Sam123: I didn't know the U.S. has so much "influence" in Brazil. ***** February 3, 2006 SouthAmerica: The United States had a lot of influence in Brazil until recently â but that is in the past â today US influence in Brazil is declining at the speed of light. ***** Sam123: Perhaps the real influence is Brazilian capitalism --something you are trying to ignore and pin it on the U.S. as if it's some sort of imperialist import that goes against what Brazilians want. Nice try. ******** SouthAmerica: Brazil used to be a colony of Portugal until 1822 â but Brazil always operated its economy under a capitalist system since colonial times. Because Brazil always have been operating as a nation under a capitalist system that is why Brazil instead of crying over spilled milk (the United States ignored South America completely since the collapse of the Soviet Union) â Brazil moved forward and found new friends and new markets around the world to replace the United States. Today, from the Brazilian perspective the United States became completely obsolete. Here is another actual example: In August 2003, brazil had a major set back on its space program when a rocket exploded in the launching pad 3 days before was supposed to be lifted into space. It was a major catastrophe and a lot of people died in that accident. The United States did not offered any help to the Brazilian government and the Brazilian government understand why â today the US can't help even themselves in matters of a space program; just look at the mess of the US Shuttle program The Russians came to the rescue of the Brazilian government, and the Russians helped the Brazilian scientists in that time of extreme need. Most of this information had been posted on the website of the Brazilian space agency. ***** Saturday, August 23, 2003 Brazil's president said Saturday his country's space program remains a priority despite a rocket explosion that killed 21 people, injured 20 and put a fiery end to Brazil's third attempt to enter space. The 66-foot-high VLS-1 VO3 rocket was three days from its scheduled liftoff when an explosion Friday destroyed it and its box-like launch pad. The blast at the Alcantara Launch Center in northeastern Brazil killed mostly civilian technicians and destroyed two research satellites, dealing a serious blow to Brazil's nascent space program⦠***** November 22, 2004 â¦The perspectives of the Russian-Brazilian cooperation in the sphere of space exploration have been outlined the in 1997 intergovernmental agreement "On cooperation in peaceful research and exploration of outer space." According to Mr. Perminov, Brazil is willing to establish close cooperation with Russia in this sphere. "I would mention in this case objective and subjective factors. Objectively, Russia and the United States are two space superpowers. However, at the tragic time of the 2003 VLS-1 rocket explosion at the space center in Alcantara (Brazil), Russia was the only country to extend a helping hand to Brazilian colleagues," the head of Roskosmos emphasized. Russian specialists worked at the site of the incident. They came up with a series of solutions and presented them to the Brazilian side. Brazilian experts decided that safety recommendations presented by Russian specialists were the most acceptable both in technical and financial terms. The Russian Federal Space Agency had also outlined several technical and organizational solutions that helped the Brazilians to start immediately the reconstruction of the space center and make relevant corrections in the design of the VLS rocket. "All our recommendations were considered the most optimal by the Brazilian side," Mr. Perminov stressed. .
Hmm? How anyone here thinks a US failure wouldn't greatly screw the ROW (Rest of World), is completely beyond me. US consumption drives the World economy, hence the huge deficit in balance of trade. One previous post stated that China is self sufficient, so no big deal if US collapses. Sorry, but China's economy is based on exports. Yes, they export to many countries, but many of those countries also are dependent on US trade. US "borrowing". No one is forcing other countries to buy US debt. They make this decision on their own for two reasons. A) best place to put their money. B) To prop up their own currencies so the US can keep buying from them. If the US stops buying, exporters know they are screwed. As for Brazilian debt being repaid so quick; yes, they have done a wonderful job. This has only been possible due to high commodity prices though. If commodity prices come back down, which they will of course as its all cyclical, Brazil is going to be in trouble. The economy there is too dependent on raw exports. I personally love the Country, and can't wait to go back, but Brazil has several of their own, very serious problems. Jay
China is self-sufficient? Who came up with that gem of economic analysis? Anyone who thinks US is going to collapse (keep hearing that one), obviously has not done his Economics GCSE or is paid by (Putin/Iran/whatever).
They could always dump their exports in the ocean and print their own green paper as opposed to dumping their exports in the US in exchange for green paper printed by Greenspan/Bernanke. What's the difference? I am yet to hear a cohesive explanation why they are going to be worse off.
. Front Page article on âThe Financial Timesâ on February 6, 2006 âChávez ratchets up tensions with U.S.â By Richard Lapper,Latin America Editor The Financial Times - UK Published: February 6 2006 President Hugo Chávez says he will continue his country's arms build-up as well as tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, taking his relations with Washington to their lowest ebb since he was first elected just over seven years ago. Speaking at a rally this weekend, Mr Chávez urged his supporters to launch a "counter-attack against US imperialism. This is our real enemy". He said Venezuela needed "a million well equipped and well armed men and women", and that his government would seek to obtain arms from countries "where the US can do nothing to impede our right to acquire the minimum equipment we need to defend ourselves". The US last month blocked the sale of military transport aircraft and patrol boats from Spain on the grounds that these contained US-manufactured parts. The decision to throw out a US naval attaché on spying charges triggered the removal of a Venezuelan diplomat from the US. Both moves followed fierce criticism of Mr Chávez by US officials. On Thursday John Negroponte, director of national intelligence, accused him of meddling in the affairs of his neighbours, while Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, casually compared the Venezuelan president to Adolf Hitler. This drew a response from Mr Chávez on Saturday that "Hitler could be a nursery baby next to George W. Bush''. The US had seemed to be eschewing such rhetorical attacks on the grounds that it reaffirmed Mr Chávez's nationalist credentials. Since Thomas Shannon was given the job of assistant secretary for western hemisphere at the State Department, policy has been steadier than it was under Roger Noriega, the much-criticised previous incumbent. Only last week Mr Shannon told El PaÃs, the Madrid daily, that Mr Chávez's influence in the region was exaggerated and that confrontation with the US was entirely the choice of the Venezuelan leader. However, according to conservative analysts, Mr Shannon and other policymakers have also given a harder and more consistent edge to US policy in the region. The quick action to veto the Spanish arms deal was one result. In addition to the appointment of Mr Negroponte and of Porter Goss at the CIA, intelligence operations are being revamped in a region neglected since the end of the cold war. "The aim is to build a coalition against Chávez and convince people in Latin America that Chávez is a danger to them," said one conservative who served in the administration of President Ronald Reagan during the early 1980s. Mr Chávez has his own reasons for ratcheting up tensions. As his ally Fidel Castro has frequently found in Cuba, anti-gringo nationalist fervour can help divert attention from domestic economic problems. Under Mr Chávez, Venezuela's economy has been growing and resources generated from growing oil revenues have been injected into popular social programmes. However, unemployment is stubbornly high and Mr Chávez has faced criticism over the poor state of Venezuelan infrastructure. Whatever the reasons, there seems little doubt that the Venezuelan leader appears to be embarked on a strategy that entails some serious risks. Mr Chávez is moving from "rhetorical to real confrontation with the US," said Alberto Garrido, a Caracas-based political analyst. "Venezuela is walking through a minefield." .