Yoshie:
China, Japan, and the Gulf states pay for American consumption, keeping interest rates low.
Doug:
They're lending the US the money. You make it sound like they're picking up the tab.
Yoshie:
"Lending" makes it sound like they are all intending to collect at a profit. :->
Doug:
We're paying them interest, no? ...
I can see why Doug sometimes gets upset with Pen-l. Some aren't economically literate enough. This is supposed to be a "political economy" list -- or is it a "progressive economics" list? either way, people should know more economics than is exhibited in Yoshie's comments. (Heck, some criticized me on lbo-talk for not knowing enough about lit crit sh*t. This didn't include Yoshie, BTW, though maybe it should have.) The fact is that China, Japan, and the Gulf States are acting out of some sort of self-interest. If it's the central banks there, that self-interest isn't simple profit-grubbing since it is tempered or exaggerated by political goals of various sorts. On the other hand, objectively speaking, these worthies _are_ "pay[ing] for American [over-] consumption [including that by the US government], keeping interest rates low." There's almost always a big difference between intentions and results. It would help if Yoshie were to make it clear that she's talking about objective results, not intentions. -- Jim Devine / "The truth is more important than the facts." -- Frank Lloyd Wright
