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I know Japan needs relief aid from the world, but doesn't America owe Japan almost a trillion...

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by burritos, Mar 13, 2011.

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  1. clickerman

    clickerman Junior Member

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    I think the original poster was talking about how much US Treasury debt the Japanese have bought. They now have about $875 billion in US debt - second only to China.

    File:Composition of U.S. Long-Term Treasury Debt 2005-2010.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The question is, what will happen if Japan decides to sell some of this debt to finance their rebuilding. It will cost more for the US to borrow, thereby raising interest rates. It will also decrease the value of the dollar, thereby raising the cost of Prii.
     
    #21 clickerman, Mar 14, 2011
  2. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    It would be in the US interest to help Japan weather this disaster. They're too big to fail.
     
    #22 zenMachine, Mar 14, 2011
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ha ha.
     
    #23 bisco, Mar 14, 2011
  4. mainerinexile

    mainerinexile No longer in exile!

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    Those aren't 'proud americans', they are 'cheap americans', not willing to pay for things that support society. I'm all for cost-effective smaller government, but the mark of a civilized society is one that is willing to pay for adequate health care, heating oil assistance for the poor, kindergarten for our kids, and even public broadcasting.

    The GOP is trying to balance the budget by nickeling and diming cuts for programs that real people care about, while the GOP assures that they and their buddies get big tax cuts. Remember the wall street guy who (literally) made 5 Billion dollars last year? The GOP gave him a big tax cut when he should have been contributing to society to pay for things we need.

    Not that I have an opinion! Hrmmmph.
     
    #24 mainerinexile, Mar 14, 2011
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  5. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

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    Umm no I don't think you understand my point...

    Japan does not have debt. They need cash. Right? When you see red cross commercials, they ask for cash. So Japan needs cash. USA OWES JAPAN ALMOST 1 TRILLION DOLLARS. Seems like they can get cash from this arrangement.
     
    #25 burritos, Mar 14, 2011
  6. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Sorry. I got it backward. Nevertheless, my point is that this kind of "arrangement" is not something that can be "re-arranged" on a moment's notice, even if you wanted to. These are complex financial instruments that can't be converted to cash on the fly.
     
    #26 zenMachine, Mar 14, 2011
  7. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

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    Of course not. If Bill Gate's house burned to the ground, he wouldn't try to liquidate his holdings of x,y,z to pay the firemen while they were still hosing down the house. Nonetheless, Bill Gate's house burning down hypothetically would merely be an inconvenience, and not a financial disaster.
     
    #27 burritos, Mar 14, 2011
  8. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

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    Japan economy: U.S. debt costs could rise as Japan seeks to finance reconstruction - latimes.com

    While re arrangement isn't instant, the financial repercussions are pretty quick. I suspect another financial tsunami is coming our way in the form of high interest rates which will snuff out any pseudo recovery we might be having.
     
    #28 burritos, Mar 15, 2011
  9. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    ^ guess we better get serious about paying off our dept then and not racking it up with all these programs.
     
    #29 spiderman, Mar 15, 2011
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