I already gave a link to all of the exact figures of both public and private aid by the European countries and the United States last week.

The figures are quite clear.

I will not bother to give the same link every week, but I'm sure you can Google it.

>knows their "real" value
But it's just the tip of the iceberg, the big(ger) mainstream banks are in it too (like UBS, they're shi**ing their pants right now (I know that for sure!). There's no end. I could bet that gold will have at least doubled in 12 months again.
There's no liquidity in the market, the central banks just barely manage to keep "things" working on a WEEKLY basis.

There hasn't been a situation like this after WWII and still some say "don't worry, it'll all be o.k.". We're in deep s*it.

DancingBearMD asked "You talking about government aid alone?"

Yes, because they are the figures I have to hand.

Don't try to beat me down with private giving, because (1) comparisons are very difficult because a significant portion of private giving is not truly aid; (2) private giving in many countries outside the US (especially the wealthier ones) is also very large.

Anyway, I'm not interested in getting into a prolonged debate about the question in this forum.

You and kerouac are entirely too sensitive. Kerouac can't be bothered to post a link because he did it a week ago, and you're anticipating a fight. Is there no such thing as just asking a simple question and getting a simple answer here?

I'm appalled at some of the posts here. Yes, the US $ is going down and it's not going to be coming back any time soon, if ever.

While Logos, our German poster is gloating, he might take a look at the fact that German banks are heavily and greedily invested in the American sub prime mortgages and are losing billions in "write downs" by the quarter. No currency is safe right now except solid gold.

Likewise for my American friends, Ballet, who support the current resident moron's policies of war and raiding the US treasury for himself and his oil buddies, what are you smoking?

By the same token, I have been in Europe for the last two years and had the unfortunate experience of running into one or two impolite natives who showed animosity to Americans for the stupidity of our congress and resident moron.

I'd like to see any of you change the direction of your country's leaders in Australia, England, Germany, France...so KNOCK IT OFF.

>heavily and greedily invested in the American sub prime
Looks like Deutsche Bank is safe. Must have been some very smart people working there!!

DancingBearMD wrote: "You and kerouac are entirely too sensitive. Kerouac can't be bothered to post a link because he did it a week ago, and you're anticipating a fight. Is there no such thing as just asking a simple question and getting a simple answer here?"

I speak only for myself, of course. I don't think I'm too sensitive, and I hope that I am not entirely insensitive either.

You asked a simple question of me, and you got a simple answer. I'm not anticipating a fight (and I distinguish between a fight and a debate). I simply made it clear that I wasn't interested in a prolonged debate.

Whaddya gonna do? Call me chicken? How very ... American.

Padraig, what did I do to deserve your rudeness?

What is more important to Americans who are not travelers right now is that
the cost of food is up 5% , the cost of gas has already reached $4.00 in some places in California and soon to follow across the country, which will affect the cost of food and goods to even higher prices.

Could there be a complete collapse of the $ and the American economy? I think it's possible. It would be a good time to start over and get rid of the Federal Reserves and go back to basing our money on gold instead of fiat paper. But there's no question we are going to go through a very bad time. The Federal Reserve has just bailed out
Bear Stearns, and yes USB and Citigroup are going -these are big banks - so you can count on many other smaller banks going. The reset of mortgages to hgher prices is still to hit in 2008 and 2009 - many foreclosures and homeless people to come. It's not a good situation by anybody's sound reasoning....and I'm sure there is fear that we could end up looking like Germany - having to go with a wheelbarrow full of paper marks to buy a loaf of bread.

I would very much like to visit Europe again this year, but I will have to wait and see if the tourist industry wants to keep Americans traveling, whether they will lower their hotel and restaurant prices a bit. Otherwise, enjoy the visits of the Brits, the Japanese, and Chinese. Perhaps you'll miss so many Americans eventually. :)

Logos,

"Looks like Deutsche Bank is safe. Must have been some very smart people working there!!"

Your ignorance is exceeded only by your arrogance.
Deutsche Bank is the leader in investing in the subprimes AND has written off BILLIONS, not millions, BILLIONS.

Ha Ha Ha !!!!!
Wait and see, THEY are still alive, when the others (German, US, Swiss and others) are history.

It's good you see how deep this thing goes. Just let the party continue.

Do you believe Citigroup will make it?

I doubt it, the arabs got a lot of money but how far are they willing to go?

>Citibank
I think I should go to the Sonnenstr. branch next week and ask them

"Do you think you'll go out of business in a few weeks. If you do, where should I invest my money?"

They always claim to offer impartial information to all their clients (so they say). Lets put them to the test. :-)

DancingBearMD asked: "Padraig, what did I do to deserve your rudeness?"

You said I was too sensitive; you said that I was anticipating a fight; you implied that I wouldn't answer a simple question.

And I wasn't rude.

I asked a simple question. You responded "Don't try to beat me down with private giving....", and "Anyway, I'm not interested in getting into a prolonged debate...."

Yes, that sounds to me like you were anticipating a fight. You were making assumptions.

Then in your next post you said "Whaddya gonna do? Call me chicken? How very ... American."

How is that not rude?

"The USD will collapse in the not too far future. It won't come back"

Sorry, I'm and English teacher and I had to fix your spelling to to too.

What do you mean the dollar will collapse and not come back? Will we be back trading corn and beans with our neighbors.

My son-in-law trades currency in a major bank. He laughs when I stress about the small amount of money I'll be losing on my trip this year, since he deals in millions in all markets. My trip was all paid for last year in dollars, flight, hotels, two meals a day, entrance fees, etc. So for the three thousand in spending money, I will get about 150 fewer euros this June compared to last October. I could buy a pair of showe in Italy for that! My husband says if I look up the exchange rates onthe compter any more, he's going to ban me from using it at home, so he doesn't have to hear me scream about it.

"The USD will collapse in the not too far future. It won't come back"

Sorry, I'm and English teacher and I had to fix your spelling to to too.

Don't you just love it when English teachers make mistakes too?

> to to too
Yeah, those tooos are a problem. ;-)

DancingBearMD wrote: "I asked a simple question..."

No, you didn't, other than in the sense that it was capable of being answered with a yes or a no. It was a loaded question. The indicator? The use of "alone".

And I wasn't rude.

What you are supposedly advocating, logos999, is called 'market timing' and those who practice it, or try to - particularly small players, and particularly in the currency exchange market - are likely to get burned. Very badly.

I say 'supposedly advocating' because I realize that you are just stirring the pot (which is fine, it brought out a lot of good discussion, especially from travelgourmet.)

"Welcome to the most recent addition to the list of nations whose currency is shunned."

Bob_brown, they were saying the same thing about the $CAN not so long ago. And by the way, I'm not gloating - I live by the ocean, where one can witness tidal shifts every day.

<i>it brought out a lot of good discussion, especially from travelgourmet</i>

Though I must confess that I am actually making out like a bandit on all of this. I'm an ex-pat living in Denmark, and my wife (who is paid entirely in DKK) gets a &quot;raise&quot; everyday. And I split my salary between USD and DKK, too. So, it is kind of easy for me to preach that the USD will be fine when I don't bear any pain. Indeed, I head back to the US for a long weekend in a couple of weeks and already have started compiling a shopping list, and will be bringing empty suitcases.

That being said, I do honestly and strongly believe that this is temporary and that concerns about the collapse of the dollar are way overblown, much as concerns about the collapse of the Euro were 6 years ago. And those concerns were voiced with the same regularity and sense of urgency as they are now about the USD.