Monday, April 20, 2020

Making China Pay

Their lies and delay in informing the rest of the world have led to greatest public health disaster of my lifetime.  The U.S. and state governments should sue the Chinese government in our courts for $2 trillion.  How will we collect?  The Chinese government and the private holdings of Chinese government officials amount to $1.1 trillion.  Repudiate those bonds.  This isn't a default; it is a confiscation of money they owe us.  Yes, they might retaliate.  They could attempt to destroy American industry by dumping products on the American market.  They might infiltrate our universities.  And if those did not work, they might confiscate American factories in China.  But if you invest in a totalitarian and dishonest country, you take your chances, 

5 comments:

  1. Over the last fifty years, they have done two of the three things you list, without it being retaliation, although this time our Chinese shills would claim that it was retaliation.
    They have dumped goods on the American market by keeping the exchange rate unnaturally low so their goods are cheaper, and they have unquestionably infiltrated our universities (It was kind of like seducing the town tramp, but still).

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  2. They might also end sales of drugs and drug related ingredients which would soon erase 80 - 90% of our antibiotics, not to mention other drugs.

    As you say, when you make a deal with the devil, expect to lose.

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  3. Windy: That's why I have them in there.

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  4. Jim: I am sure some less abusive nation will take over production, while we ramp up production here. These are not industries that require huge capital investments, like steel mills or car assembly.

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  5. Clayton,

    I am with you on this, and also because I do not think that you are a stupid reactionary man. We differ in some areas, but I think that we have common ground on many.

    The one thing that causes me concern is what I call the "Pearl Harbor" scenario.

    The CCP is capable of anything; while it is good to try for "rational act" analysis (the understanding that rational actors do not perform in a manner damaging to their interests), it is unsafe to assume that they are incapable of irrational acts.

    Even the Japanese admiralty thought that they had chosen the wrong path after Pearl, which means that clearer heads did not prevail in their pre-attack deliberations.

    If we choose to act according to your suggestions, we should only do so knowing that we are (in their eyes) declaring war, and to prepare for their forthcoming response(s). I would not rule out aggressive bellicosity to include violent actions on their part.

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