When that liquidity preference gives way to an illiquidity preference — in which they begin to feel they’re getting ripped off — the foreigners will get rid of dollars as fast as possible.
The dollar was weaponized when Biden froze Russian assets and locked them out of SWIFT. The selling accelerated from there. Trump has to play the hand he was dealt.
That's fair to say. It seems to me that it's also true that Trump could let them back into SWIFT and either unfreeze or make the EU unfreeze their assets.
Trump could let them back, but why would they accept? China and Russia have discovered that Central Bank Gold is a hell of a lot better than a Central Bank "low interest US T bond".
As a Canadian, I would rather our government cement a solid trade deal with the US no matter who is in the Executive Office.. Anything with China should be at arm's length, if that is even possible. I remind myself everyday that Mark Carney is more the PM of Brookfield than he is of Canada.
Canadian leaders will soon have a huge financial problem when Alberta leaves and becomes their own nation. They need 177,000 signatures on their referendum and gathered 40,000 the first two weeks. The writers of article said Canada will become a third world nation with out Alberta. They are totally fed up with Ottawa.
Add to that there will never be another Conservative government in Canada if/when Alberta leaves due to the inequality of parliamentary seats spread across the country. Half the population lives in and around Toronto ...a diehard Liberal stronghold.
50000 Chinese subsidized electric vehicles annualy, in exchange for no tariff on canola , oil exports. Sure sounds like a win win. I haven't seen any comments from the UAW and all those canadian auto plants. Maybe they're busy stocking up on canola for lube when the deal "kicks in."
Sure, economically it seems win-win. I am too skeptical when it comes to China.. just too much interference whether in elections and in all levels of Canadian government in general or threatening Hong Kong diaspora living here. Plenty of fentanyl per-cursors arriving here from China and manufactured into finished product and sent to the US... Our security here is continually being compromised by the CCP.
The issue isn't Canada becoming the 51st state because that will never happen... add another 15 or 20 million Liberals from the 51st state that would vote Democrat. I don't think the Republicans would go for it. The US just wants our resources and we can provide them if we had a Prime Minister that put our country first and not his own interests...more than 90% of Carney's holdings are vested in the US...less than 2% are in Canada. He wants the US to succeed so he can elevate himself to the Billionaire Club. He just using Canada as away to control that success...he could care less about the Country... I just listened to 20 minutes of a word salad speech at the WEF...his buddies. You are fortunate in the US...you have just Trump to think about and what he does...here in Canada we have to think about Trump AND Carney.
I don’t recall Bill complaining when the democrats killed the head of state of Libya or froze Russian assets or stole Russian citizens luxury yachts or etc… you get the point.
I have always found Bill to be consistent in his anti-intervention criticisms no matter which team was in power. A little research and even the AI of his friend Elon Musk agrees: In summary, the core tenet of unsustainable U.S. spending is central to Bonner's work. He sees military interventions like those in the "War on Terror" era—including Libya—as contributing factors to ballooning debt and long-term American economic decline. This view has been consistent across his books, articles, and newsletters spanning the 2000s and beyond.
Cartero, that is my view as well. Ol' Bill is a cynic and a realist and looks with clarity at what is happening long term. Unfortunately, in this 4th Turning it is the decay and ruin of the American Empire. Oh, yes, the U.S. has the biggest and baddest one strike military - but it has lost its logistics edge and doesn't have the ability to manufacture anywhere near sufficient weapons to have staying power - essentially a one and done! And - that isn't coming back. Currently America is a conquered country to Israel. We are the lil brother and do as we are told sadly. What will be telling is this year's U.S. Treasury auctions - and I think we will find them thinly attended and the Feds buying more and more. China with less than $700B now will by year-end have probably less than $500B. China, India, and Saudi Arabia following. What will be interesting is to watch Europe. It is a basketcase and their economies aren't getting better........I think 2026 is going to be quite the year and that isn't good for the ol' USofA. As always, one ol' man's mutterings.....
China has wisely sold their dollar reserves slow enough to prevent a big decline in value of dollars they continue to hold. They always take the long view.
Yep and they want to get the most they can from their remaining US$ holdings - so little by little. It is interesting - China holds 682.6, Hong Kong (owned by China) holds 256.0, and Taiwan (owned buy not currently controlled) holds 312.5. Overall, that is 938.6 w/o Taiwan and the most with Taiwan. So China et all are a serious holder of US Treasuries and don't just want to dumb them. Getting with China's long view, they do not want the U.S. economy to blow up frankly ever and certainly not soon. Watching how this world drama plays out will have its moments........let's just hope cooler heads-up prevail and nuclear weapons are kept under lock and key.
Another anti-USA, anti-Trump column by Bongo Bill. It's not that I don't doubt some of it is correct, it's just that everything Bongo writes is from the perspective of viewing the USA through his negative lens. You would think China was the bastion of individual rights and the USA was a communist dictatorship, and every other country in the world is on the side of right, and the USA is the bad guy. Bill's Bongos play the tune: TDS, TDS, TDS! There is a lot of good and bad going on in the world, but Bongo only sees the bad, and only his perceived bad of the USA. The rest of the world is absolutely fine. If only the USA wasn't around to screw everything up, everything would be fine - Bongo seems to be saying.
The US is the world's largest debtor nation with no intent or plan to remediate. No other country has overthrown foreign governments more than the US. We invaded Iraq looking for WMD's and taking over their oil productions. Who in the US has been prosecuted for these misdeeds? No-one. Trump's version of imperialism will likely lead to war. I'm assuming Canada and then Mexico will be next. As the Chief Justice John Roberts said, we don't have as many rights as we think.
Do you feel better after taking your dump on the USA? Really, I'm not interested in your crap. Anyone with half a brain knows the US has made some questionable decisions in foreign policy, but that is only part of the story. The point is to put it all in context. People like you, Bongo Bill, and a few other commenters on this page distort the facts by only seeing and exaggerating the negative.
Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it. What other country has done so much damage to the world! China issued a 5 year plan that mentioned lifting people out of poverty and preventing people from falling into poverty. I have no tangible idea what our government wants to achieve over the next 2,4, or ten years. My Senator wrote to tell be our national debt will be taken care of by AI, I had to scrape the cow dung off my shoes after reading his letter.
Imagine that the market for Treasury Bonds dries up so we finance our debt (new and rolled over) with short duration T-Bills. How many years before it blows up? Which facts are distorted?
Oh, so you're a communist and like 5-year plans where the government controls everything and sets the goals. That explains a lot. But putting that aside, Trump has mentioned over and over how he wants to free up the economy from regulations, over taxation, and encourage growth in energy including nuclear, etc. - and you have no idea what the Trump administration would like to see done? But Trump's solutions are mostly free market, so you disregard them. You like the government calling all the shots. This is the Democrat approach - government force.
And here's a point about China which demonstrates my previous point of how people like you distort what is going on and take events out of context: China - (and I won't even mention their constant threats to Taiwan) - are you okay with them killing millions of their citizens during their cultural revolution, and more currently, sealing their citizens in their apartment during COVID? Doesn't concern you, right? But if the USA did it, it would be a big deal to you, which of course it should be, but only if the US does it and not other countries.
I love when people misuse the word "communist." China has a bifurcated economic system; one TRULY capitalistic and one run by the government. The needs that the capitalistic marketplace are not interested in are picked up by the government. Analogous to our Military Industrial Complex. There are government owned companies and privately owned companies. Does this sound familiar? It should, because this is the direction we are heading. The Federal governments direct investment in corporations becoming a major shareholder. During COVID China built REAL hospitals in a week. We routinely clear our homeless from public land and we don't know how many thier are. The leaders in Nuclear energy in the West is FRANCE! They have the brainpower and will have the want. The cost of electricity in China is 1/6 of the US and they are expanding capacity each year as PLANNED. Trump doesn't actually have a plan other than self gratification and is well past his prime intellectually.
Well, Mr. Bifurcation, everyone knows that there isn't any country that is purely communist. Communism doesn't work because it goes against the basic fundamental facts of reality. So, the CCP allows enough freedom to get the things done that need to be done in their view. But they are in a precarious situation. Allow too much freedom and their citizens will want more. So, they have to keep them under their thumb using fear as much as they can get away with. Your position that there is a completely free market in China only supplemented by government picking up the neglected parts of the economy is absurd.
As far as the rest of your comment: yes, the US has suffered under the wacko leftists that have been against the development of any reliable energy like nuclear etc., supporting only the unreliable energy of wind and solar. Control power, control the populace. I call them the Progressive Fascist Nihilist Enviro-Nazi Horde, although I should add Anti-Rational to that. The Republicans have been a bunch of wimps in combating this for the most part until Trump came along. Our high energy prices are due to the Progressive Leftists in this country and their idiotic view of catastrophic global warming/climate change BS and their curtailing of development on a myriad of levels. China doesn't have this problem because they control the populace. The US wouldn't have this problem if knowledgeable people would have the courage to engage in debate on these issues.
By the way, your last sentence is just idiotic anti-Trump claptrap.
We’re living through the greatest hits of every declining empire. Governments running deficits they’ll never repay, politicians too frightened to tell voters “no”, and electorates trained to believe that endless benefits and endless borrowing are somehow free. When a society won’t choose discipline, decline chooses it for them.
So the foreign policy theatre ramps up. Bluster abroad to mask decay at home. Rome did it, the Ottomans did it, the British did it. Now it’s the US and Europe.
Forget eroding currencies, paralysed politics, collapsing productivity, and a public that knows something is cracking but is told, as always, to blame the other tribe.
And into that strolls Trump, playing Commodus with a spray tan for a modern audience. A vain showman treating the state as a stage, demanding devotion, punishing critics, and insisting only he can save the crumbling edifice while he kicks holes in the walls.
And meanwhile the apologists warn of Chinese aggression, conveniently forgetting the US has been stomping around the world since WW2 to bring freedom but leaving Destruction in its wake.
Oh now Bill, you know Trump is a genius at all things economic. He thinks the way someone playing 4 level chess does. There is no way, we the unwashed masses, can possibly understand how the Messiah’s mind works. Just keep buying the shiny, I am sure it will all work out. Enjoy Nicaragua. It is beautiful this time of the year.
4 level chess is played on 4 clear chess boards stacked vertically with a complete chess set on each board. Two players are allowed to move their pieces to any board of their choice. Very complex. Years ago I saw two guys play it😳. Yes, shiny is the metals. Learned that saying from Jack at Nobody Special on YouTube. A no BS financial news channel.
By the way Bill, your got most of your wealth by being a US citizen. Do you have so little faith in the US that you have to hide away in a dictator run country like Nicaragua?
Vacationing in a tropical paradise run by an really bad govt, is hardly running away. It seems to me to be making a sensible choice over Baltimore in January. What inexpensive tropical paradise is being run by a the Libertarian government I wish we had? Please tell me, so I can go.
David, did you actually read today's missive. This is the first time in 5 years ol' Bill has been to Nicaragua. And, he isn't staying for months. Pls wake-up and smell the coffee.
I remember when one of Bill's companies (International Living?) bought that land and started selling lots for $40,000. I thought then, do I want to own a place run by a Dictator?
Right now, the international dollar economy is living on the remnants of diesel fumes. I don't know when it will finally break, but it will be a disaster when it does, because very few in the US expect it to happen. They'll be in for a major surprise when it does.
Billy, your comment "Now, the US economy has been upstaged by China … and the reputation for rule-following has been erased” is in direct contrast to other “Financial” talking heads whom continue to stress the Chinese economy is stumbling and in dire straights.
I use to like the truth, wonder what happened to it?
You must have missed the numerous articles about China's dark factories and the Ford CEO said they were a decade ahead of us. They had a trade surplus in 2025 of over a trillion dollars. Our biggest exports are airplane replacement parts.
Nope didn’t miss it, that is one product, the automobile, and they are cranking them out at record rate, that does not negate the argument. Per the trade surplus, here what are you talking about, all the plane loads of rubberized dog crap that us dumb Americans cannot live without? Again, doesn’t change the narrative.
Well it is a very dangerous world out there and getting more dangerous with all industrialized nations having bubble economies and rest with no economy. Trump was handed few good cards to play, and even given a pencil, he would be hard pressed to make a good hand. So for now I am on team Trump waiting, watching, and hoping that his administration can protect and navigate America through the dangers that are omnipresent.
James: Trump has done many things that improve living in the US. Energy, getting rid of illegals, closing the border, and has made progress in many conflicts in the world. Of course, I don’t like some of the things he does. I.e. this obsession with the Nobel prize. Actually this price has been very political. Remember Obama getting it for doing nothing. AP
Back to Greenland and the "crazy" Trump vs. Denmark, and other NATO Countries thingy for just a moment; in his ongoing efforts to make the Europeans pay their own military way so they are capable of standing up to Russia without depending on America to do it for them (since we are now bankrupt) could he not be using this unusual behavior in an effort to awaken them to their danger, if and when the two "allies" drift further apart. Greenland is not be the only disagreement between the two of us. And, no doubt that it is a vital clog in any defense system we employ.
China is a far greater danger to America's future than Russia, and the other NATO Nations must now stand up and face the danger Russia poses to them. Trump has been singing this song since he was first in office!
Mr. Ellis, Excellent comment. This is similar to what U.S. Treasury Sec. Bessent is saying, and plans to emphasize further at the Davos retreat. Sec. Bessent indicates that the U.S. deficit could be dramatically reduced if the U.S. would gradually get out of NATO and finally let Europe deal with the so-called Russian threat. In other words, if Russia is such a great threat one would think these European leaders would be glad to pony up huge amounts for their defense against this imminent threat.
Interesting theory. Trump is testing the West which country is with the USA. Many countries believe in a world order. The tariffs are one way to see if they are truly loyal to the West. Canada, for example, is now talking to China. The US has for years been the beacon for democracy; it has protected many countries in Europe; these countries have taken advantage by not providing the monetary requirements they were required. The UN, WEF, Davos clearly shows that they are more interested in a new world order rather than take care of their individual countries. Finally, every currency is in trouble, not just the dollar. What form of exchange will be in the future, that is the big question.
Maybe, but let it play out. It may be that his policies and rhetoric will mitigate the multitude issues facing America and the world. To be sure the debt we have taken on since Eisenhower, including the unfunded liabilities, is a time bomb that Trump played but a small part.
Depends what you mean by Trump's small part. During the five years of Trump the national debt has increased by $10 trillion which is over 25%. Let's face the facts. Both teams are spending the US into oblivion.
Vern, Maybe you should watch Newsmax if you want the truth about Ice and there operations. Try keeping the US safe from all the freaks Biden let in while constantly being harassed by Soros PAID protesters. All the previous presidents sans Biden deported millions of illegals using Ice and there were NO protests like we see today.
As bad as that is, I'd also like to know where he was and what he was doing, as well as what those around him were doing, at the time he was shot. Not that I excuse ICE by default. I don't. But still, the context matters. This should be judged rationally, not reacted to emotionally.
The dollar was weaponized when Biden froze Russian assets and locked them out of SWIFT. The selling accelerated from there. Trump has to play the hand he was dealt.
Good point. And Trump, based on declining interest in the USD, is not winning any hands.
That's fair to say. It seems to me that it's also true that Trump could let them back into SWIFT and either unfreeze or make the EU unfreeze their assets.
Trump could let them back, but why would they accept? China and Russia have discovered that Central Bank Gold is a hell of a lot better than a Central Bank "low interest US T bond".
As a Canadian, I would rather our government cement a solid trade deal with the US no matter who is in the Executive Office.. Anything with China should be at arm's length, if that is even possible. I remind myself everyday that Mark Carney is more the PM of Brookfield than he is of Canada.
Canadian leaders will soon have a huge financial problem when Alberta leaves and becomes their own nation. They need 177,000 signatures on their referendum and gathered 40,000 the first two weeks. The writers of article said Canada will become a third world nation with out Alberta. They are totally fed up with Ottawa.
Add to that there will never be another Conservative government in Canada if/when Alberta leaves due to the inequality of parliamentary seats spread across the country. Half the population lives in and around Toronto ...a diehard Liberal stronghold.
50000 Chinese subsidized electric vehicles annualy, in exchange for no tariff on canola , oil exports. Sure sounds like a win win. I haven't seen any comments from the UAW and all those canadian auto plants. Maybe they're busy stocking up on canola for lube when the deal "kicks in."
Sure, economically it seems win-win. I am too skeptical when it comes to China.. just too much interference whether in elections and in all levels of Canadian government in general or threatening Hong Kong diaspora living here. Plenty of fentanyl per-cursors arriving here from China and manufactured into finished product and sent to the US... Our security here is continually being compromised by the CCP.
I don't believe China subsidizes EV's exported to foreign markets. Although they did offer rebates to Chinese citizens.
Europe thought they had cemented solid trade deals. Are you willing to vote to become the 51st state?
The issue isn't Canada becoming the 51st state because that will never happen... add another 15 or 20 million Liberals from the 51st state that would vote Democrat. I don't think the Republicans would go for it. The US just wants our resources and we can provide them if we had a Prime Minister that put our country first and not his own interests...more than 90% of Carney's holdings are vested in the US...less than 2% are in Canada. He wants the US to succeed so he can elevate himself to the Billionaire Club. He just using Canada as away to control that success...he could care less about the Country... I just listened to 20 minutes of a word salad speech at the WEF...his buddies. You are fortunate in the US...you have just Trump to think about and what he does...here in Canada we have to think about Trump AND Carney.
I don’t recall Bill complaining when the democrats killed the head of state of Libya or froze Russian assets or stole Russian citizens luxury yachts or etc… you get the point.
I have always found Bill to be consistent in his anti-intervention criticisms no matter which team was in power. A little research and even the AI of his friend Elon Musk agrees: In summary, the core tenet of unsustainable U.S. spending is central to Bonner's work. He sees military interventions like those in the "War on Terror" era—including Libya—as contributing factors to ballooning debt and long-term American economic decline. This view has been consistent across his books, articles, and newsletters spanning the 2000s and beyond.
Cartero, that is my view as well. Ol' Bill is a cynic and a realist and looks with clarity at what is happening long term. Unfortunately, in this 4th Turning it is the decay and ruin of the American Empire. Oh, yes, the U.S. has the biggest and baddest one strike military - but it has lost its logistics edge and doesn't have the ability to manufacture anywhere near sufficient weapons to have staying power - essentially a one and done! And - that isn't coming back. Currently America is a conquered country to Israel. We are the lil brother and do as we are told sadly. What will be telling is this year's U.S. Treasury auctions - and I think we will find them thinly attended and the Feds buying more and more. China with less than $700B now will by year-end have probably less than $500B. China, India, and Saudi Arabia following. What will be interesting is to watch Europe. It is a basketcase and their economies aren't getting better........I think 2026 is going to be quite the year and that isn't good for the ol' USofA. As always, one ol' man's mutterings.....
China has wisely sold their dollar reserves slow enough to prevent a big decline in value of dollars they continue to hold. They always take the long view.
Yep and they want to get the most they can from their remaining US$ holdings - so little by little. It is interesting - China holds 682.6, Hong Kong (owned by China) holds 256.0, and Taiwan (owned buy not currently controlled) holds 312.5. Overall, that is 938.6 w/o Taiwan and the most with Taiwan. So China et all are a serious holder of US Treasuries and don't just want to dumb them. Getting with China's long view, they do not want the U.S. economy to blow up frankly ever and certainly not soon. Watching how this world drama plays out will have its moments........let's just hope cooler heads-up prevail and nuclear weapons are kept under lock and key.
Another anti-USA, anti-Trump column by Bongo Bill. It's not that I don't doubt some of it is correct, it's just that everything Bongo writes is from the perspective of viewing the USA through his negative lens. You would think China was the bastion of individual rights and the USA was a communist dictatorship, and every other country in the world is on the side of right, and the USA is the bad guy. Bill's Bongos play the tune: TDS, TDS, TDS! There is a lot of good and bad going on in the world, but Bongo only sees the bad, and only his perceived bad of the USA. The rest of the world is absolutely fine. If only the USA wasn't around to screw everything up, everything would be fine - Bongo seems to be saying.
The US is the world's largest debtor nation with no intent or plan to remediate. No other country has overthrown foreign governments more than the US. We invaded Iraq looking for WMD's and taking over their oil productions. Who in the US has been prosecuted for these misdeeds? No-one. Trump's version of imperialism will likely lead to war. I'm assuming Canada and then Mexico will be next. As the Chief Justice John Roberts said, we don't have as many rights as we think.
Do you feel better after taking your dump on the USA? Really, I'm not interested in your crap. Anyone with half a brain knows the US has made some questionable decisions in foreign policy, but that is only part of the story. The point is to put it all in context. People like you, Bongo Bill, and a few other commenters on this page distort the facts by only seeing and exaggerating the negative.
Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it. What other country has done so much damage to the world! China issued a 5 year plan that mentioned lifting people out of poverty and preventing people from falling into poverty. I have no tangible idea what our government wants to achieve over the next 2,4, or ten years. My Senator wrote to tell be our national debt will be taken care of by AI, I had to scrape the cow dung off my shoes after reading his letter.
Imagine that the market for Treasury Bonds dries up so we finance our debt (new and rolled over) with short duration T-Bills. How many years before it blows up? Which facts are distorted?
Oh, so you're a communist and like 5-year plans where the government controls everything and sets the goals. That explains a lot. But putting that aside, Trump has mentioned over and over how he wants to free up the economy from regulations, over taxation, and encourage growth in energy including nuclear, etc. - and you have no idea what the Trump administration would like to see done? But Trump's solutions are mostly free market, so you disregard them. You like the government calling all the shots. This is the Democrat approach - government force.
And here's a point about China which demonstrates my previous point of how people like you distort what is going on and take events out of context: China - (and I won't even mention their constant threats to Taiwan) - are you okay with them killing millions of their citizens during their cultural revolution, and more currently, sealing their citizens in their apartment during COVID? Doesn't concern you, right? But if the USA did it, it would be a big deal to you, which of course it should be, but only if the US does it and not other countries.
I love when people misuse the word "communist." China has a bifurcated economic system; one TRULY capitalistic and one run by the government. The needs that the capitalistic marketplace are not interested in are picked up by the government. Analogous to our Military Industrial Complex. There are government owned companies and privately owned companies. Does this sound familiar? It should, because this is the direction we are heading. The Federal governments direct investment in corporations becoming a major shareholder. During COVID China built REAL hospitals in a week. We routinely clear our homeless from public land and we don't know how many thier are. The leaders in Nuclear energy in the West is FRANCE! They have the brainpower and will have the want. The cost of electricity in China is 1/6 of the US and they are expanding capacity each year as PLANNED. Trump doesn't actually have a plan other than self gratification and is well past his prime intellectually.
Well, Mr. Bifurcation, everyone knows that there isn't any country that is purely communist. Communism doesn't work because it goes against the basic fundamental facts of reality. So, the CCP allows enough freedom to get the things done that need to be done in their view. But they are in a precarious situation. Allow too much freedom and their citizens will want more. So, they have to keep them under their thumb using fear as much as they can get away with. Your position that there is a completely free market in China only supplemented by government picking up the neglected parts of the economy is absurd.
As far as the rest of your comment: yes, the US has suffered under the wacko leftists that have been against the development of any reliable energy like nuclear etc., supporting only the unreliable energy of wind and solar. Control power, control the populace. I call them the Progressive Fascist Nihilist Enviro-Nazi Horde, although I should add Anti-Rational to that. The Republicans have been a bunch of wimps in combating this for the most part until Trump came along. Our high energy prices are due to the Progressive Leftists in this country and their idiotic view of catastrophic global warming/climate change BS and their curtailing of development on a myriad of levels. China doesn't have this problem because they control the populace. The US wouldn't have this problem if knowledgeable people would have the courage to engage in debate on these issues.
By the way, your last sentence is just idiotic anti-Trump claptrap.
We’re living through the greatest hits of every declining empire. Governments running deficits they’ll never repay, politicians too frightened to tell voters “no”, and electorates trained to believe that endless benefits and endless borrowing are somehow free. When a society won’t choose discipline, decline chooses it for them.
So the foreign policy theatre ramps up. Bluster abroad to mask decay at home. Rome did it, the Ottomans did it, the British did it. Now it’s the US and Europe.
Forget eroding currencies, paralysed politics, collapsing productivity, and a public that knows something is cracking but is told, as always, to blame the other tribe.
And into that strolls Trump, playing Commodus with a spray tan for a modern audience. A vain showman treating the state as a stage, demanding devotion, punishing critics, and insisting only he can save the crumbling edifice while he kicks holes in the walls.
And meanwhile the apologists warn of Chinese aggression, conveniently forgetting the US has been stomping around the world since WW2 to bring freedom but leaving Destruction in its wake.
A pox on all your houses...
🤣
Oh now Bill, you know Trump is a genius at all things economic. He thinks the way someone playing 4 level chess does. There is no way, we the unwashed masses, can possibly understand how the Messiah’s mind works. Just keep buying the shiny, I am sure it will all work out. Enjoy Nicaragua. It is beautiful this time of the year.
I agree. What is 4 level Chess? What is the shiny? Gold or silver I suspect. Perfect analogy for all those halves and all those have not in Nicaragua.
All the best. Have hiny day!
4 level chess is played on 4 clear chess boards stacked vertically with a complete chess set on each board. Two players are allowed to move their pieces to any board of their choice. Very complex. Years ago I saw two guys play it😳. Yes, shiny is the metals. Learned that saying from Jack at Nobody Special on YouTube. A no BS financial news channel.
By the way Bill, your got most of your wealth by being a US citizen. Do you have so little faith in the US that you have to hide away in a dictator run country like Nicaragua?
Vacationing in a tropical paradise run by an really bad govt, is hardly running away. It seems to me to be making a sensible choice over Baltimore in January. What inexpensive tropical paradise is being run by a the Libertarian government I wish we had? Please tell me, so I can go.
David, did you actually read today's missive. This is the first time in 5 years ol' Bill has been to Nicaragua. And, he isn't staying for months. Pls wake-up and smell the coffee.
I remember when one of Bill's companies (International Living?) bought that land and started selling lots for $40,000. I thought then, do I want to own a place run by a Dictator?
Right now, the international dollar economy is living on the remnants of diesel fumes. I don't know when it will finally break, but it will be a disaster when it does, because very few in the US expect it to happen. They'll be in for a major surprise when it does.
Billy, your comment "Now, the US economy has been upstaged by China … and the reputation for rule-following has been erased” is in direct contrast to other “Financial” talking heads whom continue to stress the Chinese economy is stumbling and in dire straights.
I use to like the truth, wonder what happened to it?
You must have missed the numerous articles about China's dark factories and the Ford CEO said they were a decade ahead of us. They had a trade surplus in 2025 of over a trillion dollars. Our biggest exports are airplane replacement parts.
Nope didn’t miss it, that is one product, the automobile, and they are cranking them out at record rate, that does not negate the argument. Per the trade surplus, here what are you talking about, all the plane loads of rubberized dog crap that us dumb Americans cannot live without? Again, doesn’t change the narrative.
Their birth rate is also tanking. I'm on the lowest in the world at only one. Less than half of the replacement rate.
Interesting ancillary fact the Trump Admin is forgetting (quite conveniently).
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/19/2364194/-In-1917-The-US-traded-its-rights-to-Greenland-for-Epstein-Island-Literally
UT Ohhh..
Since when does the US honor old musty treaties?
Well it is a very dangerous world out there and getting more dangerous with all industrialized nations having bubble economies and rest with no economy. Trump was handed few good cards to play, and even given a pencil, he would be hard pressed to make a good hand. So for now I am on team Trump waiting, watching, and hoping that his administration can protect and navigate America through the dangers that are omnipresent.
Unfortunately, Trump has created many of the dangers the world is facing.
James: Trump has done many things that improve living in the US. Energy, getting rid of illegals, closing the border, and has made progress in many conflicts in the world. Of course, I don’t like some of the things he does. I.e. this obsession with the Nobel prize. Actually this price has been very political. Remember Obama getting it for doing nothing. AP
When the dollar tanks , will it be a huge benefit for american manufacturing as capital is currently pouring in adding to production capability. 🤔
As i'm concerned , the dollar has already tanked
Back to Greenland and the "crazy" Trump vs. Denmark, and other NATO Countries thingy for just a moment; in his ongoing efforts to make the Europeans pay their own military way so they are capable of standing up to Russia without depending on America to do it for them (since we are now bankrupt) could he not be using this unusual behavior in an effort to awaken them to their danger, if and when the two "allies" drift further apart. Greenland is not be the only disagreement between the two of us. And, no doubt that it is a vital clog in any defense system we employ.
China is a far greater danger to America's future than Russia, and the other NATO Nations must now stand up and face the danger Russia poses to them. Trump has been singing this song since he was first in office!
Mr. Ellis, Excellent comment. This is similar to what U.S. Treasury Sec. Bessent is saying, and plans to emphasize further at the Davos retreat. Sec. Bessent indicates that the U.S. deficit could be dramatically reduced if the U.S. would gradually get out of NATO and finally let Europe deal with the so-called Russian threat. In other words, if Russia is such a great threat one would think these European leaders would be glad to pony up huge amounts for their defense against this imminent threat.
Interesting theory. Trump is testing the West which country is with the USA. Many countries believe in a world order. The tariffs are one way to see if they are truly loyal to the West. Canada, for example, is now talking to China. The US has for years been the beacon for democracy; it has protected many countries in Europe; these countries have taken advantage by not providing the monetary requirements they were required. The UN, WEF, Davos clearly shows that they are more interested in a new world order rather than take care of their individual countries. Finally, every currency is in trouble, not just the dollar. What form of exchange will be in the future, that is the big question.
Maybe, but let it play out. It may be that his policies and rhetoric will mitigate the multitude issues facing America and the world. To be sure the debt we have taken on since Eisenhower, including the unfunded liabilities, is a time bomb that Trump played but a small part.
Depends what you mean by Trump's small part. During the five years of Trump the national debt has increased by $10 trillion which is over 25%. Let's face the facts. Both teams are spending the US into oblivion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbhW0JKWI6g
Unbelievably shocking and horrific behaviour from ICE
Hey
Vern, Maybe you should watch Newsmax if you want the truth about Ice and there operations. Try keeping the US safe from all the freaks Biden let in while constantly being harassed by Soros PAID protesters. All the previous presidents sans Biden deported millions of illegals using Ice and there were NO protests like we see today.
Get a grip!!
As bad as that is, I'd also like to know where he was and what he was doing, as well as what those around him were doing, at the time he was shot. Not that I excuse ICE by default. I don't. But still, the context matters. This should be judged rationally, not reacted to emotionally.
That looks like a great reason not to get in the way of ice while they are doing their job.
He was already blind and stupid.
This guy manicures and paints his fingernails dark red... screams liberal.
I doubt he is not in some way culpable.
-
Let's hear from the ICE POV...
Yeah I'm sure it happened for no reason at all....SMH.
Well said Bill!
The Orange Clown is ensuring our Nation’s demise at the fastest clip imaginable!