I don’t know how I missed this, but Diane Francis has a blog up. Her latest entry is a report from Davos;
But every year, the panelists mostly incorrect and last year was no exception. The majority view back then was that the U.S. would come unstuck in 2005 due to overspending and the dollar would plummet. Instead, the U.S. dollar went up in value and its economy grew nicely.
The only exception to last year’s bearishness was Jacob Frenkel, vice chairman of insurance giant AIG and former head of Israel’s central bank.
“The dire predictions didn’t materialize which is a reflection of the robustness of the U.S. economy,” he said. “It’s capable of absorbing enormous shocks.”
U.S. trade deficits are happily financed by Japanese, Chinese and other Asian countries with trade surpluses and they are not about to pull the plug.
“The U.S. overspends and Asia over-saves,” he said. “The U.S. dollar is not going to collapse. Where else will investors go? Japan holds US$1 trillion of U.S. debt and China US$500 billion. The more you are invested in an asset like this, the more vulnerable you are to collapses so you are reluctant to let that happen.”
That link to Diane Francis’s blog is not working Kate, is that the correct URL?
There is an extra ‘L’ at the end of the URL. Try http://dianefrancisblog.blogspot.com/
sorry – will fix!
Gee, that’s a solid basis to build and sustain a large economy on:
“The U.S. dollar is not going to collapse. Where else will investors go?”
I really wish the republicans had looked into modifying what the structural underpinings areof this persistant imbalance and try to fix it. After all, if people aren’t saving it’s because the calculus is set up to discourage savings.
Any bs from BS at Davos?
Is she travelling & etc. on Canadian taxpayers’ money?
What is she wearing? Blue? This could be an important hint as to BS’s aspirations.
BS’s aspiration: to be the next PM PM.
BTW>>
Focus still on Belinda
Jan 26, 2006
…Ms Stronach is being pegged as a strong leadership contender after a battered Prime Minister Paul Martin announced he will step down…
“I think we need fresh ideas. We need to regain the confidence of some Canadians that we can run government efficiently and that we respect tax dollars,” Ms Stronach said…
…As for the next few days, Ms Stronach has cancelled a trip to Davos, Switzerland where she had been scheduled to speak prior to the election….
http://tinyurl.com/bpg43
I like Diane’s willingness to expose the insider trading government connected profiteers and politically connected monopolists in Canada….she was the first Canadian journalist to be all over the Powercor and Irving political pandering cartels ….I hope this year she rats out the political insider profiteering slime from Canada who slither into the bilderberger meeting.
I think it was her who nailed Heather Reisman as a bilderberger and a Liberal cartel pandered insider who retained a wonderful regulatory absolution and tax break of her printed word retail monolopy from the Chretien heritage ministry in return for services rendered acting as a partisan book censor for the single party state. (Reisman bans books she personally disagrees with from shelf space in her outlets)
Keep rockin’ the boat for freedom Diane!
She’s also written a book about the problems with our current immigration system and the impact it has & will have on our economy.
The Heather & Gerry Show
..in Titans, Newman�s 1998 portrait of the brash new wheeler-dealers who�d stormed establishment barricades, he had devoted an entire chapter to Schwartz, Reisman�s husband of 23 years, whom he hailed as the country�s leveraged-buyout king. At the time, she made clear to friends she was not amused. In an otherwise flattering account, Newman noted her �forest fires of ambition� and reported that she and Schwartz had �scythed� their way into Toronto society…
http://www.torontolife.com/magazine/feature_cont.cfm?listing_id=71&pg=2
What Frenkel said. Word.
Davos is soooooo overrated. And has already had its share of mini-scandals. But it is probably a really nice place to go and hob-nob, especially on your company, university, or country’s dime.
…”There is a dangerous degree of complacency out there and the weakest link in 2006 is the American consumer, and there was no increase in consumption in the last quarter in the U.S. — zero.”……But Roach says this could be “the end of the great American spending binge.”…
After maxing out on their mortgages & credit cards on their overpriced homes & expensive toys there isn’t too much left to spend. We can expect the same thing to happen here once no one is left to buy those expensive homes and the ripple effect from the auto industry starts hitting other sectors.
Diane rocks! Imagine… an American fighting to fix the ailments of our country! Wooooo.. you go girl! Thanks for that Kate! You rock too! 🙂