The picture is courtesy of The Onion. It was the best picture from my weekend surfing.
China Gloating
The official Chinese news agency is gloating over the AA+. I can't say I blame them, but they're the goats: they're holding most of the debt. They have a hammer over our heads, but it must fall on their heads, too. That's the beauty . . . and the ugliness . . . and the utter ridiculousness of our global monetary system. Go here to check out the editorial. Excerpt:
The U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone.
It should also stop its old practice of letting its domestic electoral politics take the global economy hostage and rely on the deep pockets of major surplus countries to make up for its perennial deficits.
A little self-discipline would not be too uncomfortable for the United States, the world's largest economy and issuer of international reserve currency, to bear.
Randoms
It should be an interesting week. The only things that were strong last week: gold (which closed at its all-time weekly closing high) and the dollar (my anti-dollar fund, Merk Hard Currency, started the week over $13 and ended at $12.86). * * * * * * * And gold added heavily to its gains in overnight trading: $1,705 this morning. * * * * * * * Catholic Lane weighs in: Bernanke is an inflationist and constructing a Potemkin economy. Link. * * * * * * * Android rules the Southern states. iPhone rules the Northern states. Link. * * * * * * * Random acts of kindness: Online charity sites allow people to raise money for their projects. It's working. People are sending small a dollar or two to strangers. A very nice story. Of course, I haven't gone to the charity sites yet, for fear that I'll feel compelled to donate (smile). Link.
