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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Dan TheBookMan<br><br><b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>>>…</span></b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>China’s government has the authority to order its people to desist lending money to the US at any time. If it does, the US has no practical way to raise the difference.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>>…There’s s saying that might apply here: “If you owe the bank one hundred dollars that's your problem. If you owe the bank one hundred million dollars, that's the bank's problem.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Eh, it isn’t so much what the US owes the bank. It’s that the US is dependent on that bank continuing to issue new credit cards at an increasing rate, into the future as far as we can see. The US government has no practical way to significantly increase its revenue and it shows little interest in cutting its expenses.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>>>… China is planning to take ownership of a huge swath of the Pacific. The US can’t do anything about it…<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>>…You make it sound as if China is churning out these islands all over — …. Do you believe China is a threat or a menace? ;) <o:p></o:p></span></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Regards, Dan<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Dan the real threat isn’t even the islands. It’s the threat of cutting off the lending. The US has shown that it cannot live on its income.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>All this flapping around, the US government at war with itself is distracting from the real threat.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></div></body></html>