The Military Holds the Dollar Up

Catherine and Daily Musings,

July 30, 2008 at 12:07 pm

….Global treasuries and sovereign wealth funds, central banks and a variety of large institutions buy Treasury securities or hold dollars not because there is economic value behind them or because these financial assets are sound fiscally or in terms of credit. They buy them because if they don’t buy them, their current holdings will drop in value faster (that is given their current holdings, they are better off with a managed fall that a precipitous one) and because they are forced to — both in terms of trade agreements — and because they have a gun at their head. If they don’t buy, they and their population will be subject to a wide variety of demonstrations of physical and financial force that will result in loss of life.

Hence, demand for U.S. dollars and government and agency bonds continues even as value falls. The losses on these holdings represents a tax paid to the “Empire.” The fundamental system is as old as the hills. It is based on force. However, this tax is not paid through the income statements, it is paid through the balance sheet. Hence, national legislators do not have to pass bills to authorize their people paying the tax. There is no disclosure.

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Bailing Out the Bank of China

by Stephen Moore

Now that Congress has approved the bailout of housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, those who voted “yes” are soon going to be asked an uncomfortable question: Why are you taking money from U.S. taxpayers to bail out the Bank of China and other nations’ central banks?

It turns out the biggest supporter of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts has been the Chinese government. The Chinese own about half a trillion dollars in Fannie and Freddie securities and they’ve put the warning out to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson they expect to be repaid in full. The fear among Mr. Paulson and other Treasury officials is that if Fannie and Freddie debt isn’t repaid at 100% par, the Chinese may start dumping their hundreds of billions of dollars of Treasury securities, possibly causing a run on U.S. government debt and sharply raising Uncle Sam’s borrowing costs.

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