[gumby]

Almost all wrong, except #1. #1 is a definite risk, and a more interesting one than just Russian and Chinese "planners." Otherwise your note is nonsense.

2. No sovereign government debt is paid down in real terms over the very long run (this doesn't have to be so, but the data). So why should a non-national buy it?

If you buy US debt you get an asset that is supremely liquid and extremely unlikely to default. Over shorter terms from right now it appears likely to outperform other sovereign assets.

In very short terms at various times you can make money trading marginal countries' debt (even Argentinian!). But you take on a big risk premium for that!

3. There is so much analysis of technological advances of the 20th century that I won't even bother to try an summarize. WWII began with horse drawn artillery and ended with jet aircraft and ICBMs. My own grandmother was alive from kitty hawk to moon landings and robots spread out through the solar system. Things move frustratingly (for me) slowly these days.

4. Arrant nonsense, with the trend pointing the other way.