World Economies Roundup

First, and perhaps most importantly – China.

At this point, there seems to be no way to make long-term money from China. They have a history of bad faith:

• Ruling against non-Chinese companies in court (no matter what the facts of the case).
• Delivering shoddy products – and, that’s in GOOD times! Imagine how bad delivery will get when they cannot get the supplies to make the products at all. QC is always a problem with many firms (and, I don’t mean to savage any reputable companies that exist). American companies are often seduced by the promise of low costs, and neglect to check out their would-be supplier’s history – timeliness, quality, reputation.
• The Chinese government colludes with some of their more disreputable businesspeople, even going to the extent of throwing people in jail on specious grounds, should it prove convenient to those business.
• And, lest we forget, the ‘Red Chinese’ takeover nationalized a lot of foreign businesses, and confiscated their capital. Those businesses never got their money back – they were lucky to be able to get their personnel out of the country.

The Chinese economy is built on a House of Cards. Yeah, I know it’s Zero Hedge, but that story tracks with what I’ve read about the mortgage situation in other places. Only the draconian hand of government has kept dissent in check. With the situation becoming critical, collapse may be only a few years – or even months – away.

Now, a financial collapse will lead to the Chinese government to demand their money back – they are a substantial lender to the US government. So, will that trigger the American economy to collapse?

Depends on who is in charge.

With Biden, all bets are off. He might ruin the economy (worse than he already has) by agreeing to pay. And, if he does, that will certainly screw with us, but it also means paying off a long-term debt with rapidly worthless money.

Should the Chinese demand that we sell off the vast Federal lands that are held by the public, expect the Mega-Rich to make a grab for them at rock-bottom prices.

And, then, to use their considerable power to force the EPA to back off, and allow drilling/extraction of resources. If they succeed, the price of oil will plummet, and other mineral resources will be available, at bargain prices.

Yes, the investors will make a killing, but the rest of us could benefit, too.

As far as the mortgage market, it’s likely to hit those markets that are WAY over their value – NYC, CA, and just about every major city in the USA, AND their priciest suburbs. And the coastal regions.

Guess who those places are FILLED with?

Democrats. They’re gonna get hosed.

The Midwest, outside of the cities? Probably some loss of paper equity (that which depends on the market for value – and the value can go down, as well as up). Otherwise, little change, except for those people who bought overleveraged homes, with ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages), and were otherwise overextended.