[NginUS]

I agree completely. What I can't be sure of is whether these actions are indeed a step in the wrong direction- at least for the time being. Just maybe it's not what it seems.

When Bernanke starts recklessly printing money the way he did recently- that seems like a panic-driven survivalist effort to me, and I begin wondering if this isn't more of the same.

China's got us by the balls alright. I'm sure there's some twisting going on that only the government higher-ups can see, to warrant these reactions of late.

[ericb]

> China's got us by the balls alright.

Not sure about that. I think debtors have more power than creditors. After you have a client refuse to pay you, you start to see creditor/debtor power balance in a different light.

[robryan]

In the short term possibly, but in the long term refusing to pay a debt such as that would make it impossible for America to source credit.

[ericb]

Not sure about that either. I am not sure what I need to google to find this, but I seem to recall reading about countries that devalued their currency, but still were able to get financing. It doesn't necessarily need to be a refusal to pay per say. China asserts that it is their right to keep their currency artificially pegged to the dollar. On the same token, we can devalue our own.