The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
1–10 of 154 posts
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#2I think we always knew that they were buying a lot of government debt, this just makes it official and puts some numbers to it.
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#3Look at that gas station photo during the embargo: "Limit: $300 per customer". $300 in 1974? Wow!
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#4Look at that gas station photo during the embargo: "Limit: $300 per customer". $300 in 1974? Wow!
That's $3.00 :)
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#5Look at that gas station photo during the embargo: "Limit: $300 per customer". $300 in 1974? Wow!
That's $3.00
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#6Look at that gas station photo during the embargo: "Limit: $300 per customer". $300 in 1974? Wow!
That's $3.00 :)
Thanks - makes much more sense. I haven't had my coffee yet. According to the Dept. of Energy that'd be about 7 gallons. (http://energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-915-march-7-2016-averag...) Not sure what typical passenger car engine efficiency was in those days, though.
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#7Bitter Lake [1] connects the Saudi windfall with the rise of global bankers as a power. Showdown at Doha [2] looks into the growing discomfort of US with rise of Iran and the subsequent strategic deal with SA which has lead us directly to the current mess. The role of the Brits (always busy busy in the shadows) is well worth looking into.
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#8Bitter Lake [1] connects the Saudi windfall with the rise of global bankers as a power. Showdown at Doha [2] looks into the growing discomfort of US with rise of Iran and the subsequent strategic deal with SA which has lead us directly to the current mess. The role of the Brits (always busy busy in the shadows) is well worth looking into. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Lake_%28film%29 [2]: http://masoudbeh…
Thanks for the links. I've added Bitter Lake to my watchlist.
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#9You can see from their reported figures that their U.S. treasury holdings are far too low for a sensible national portfolio. It's a pretty glaring hole, and you know that the money is going somewhere off the balance sheets.
The question has always been how much U.S. debt exactly the Saudi's hold. This is an interesting historical anecdote, but it doesn't provide any information about the size of the debt, other than "much larger" than official figures, which isn't terribly informative.
At this point, Saudi Arabia needs the United States more than the United States needs Saudi Arabia. The OPEC cartel is broken, Saudi Arabia is running a massive deficit, both China and Europe have economies mired in the aftershocks of 2008 which cannot absorb the additional supply, and the United States is energy independent.
If the Saudis are even willing to suggest selling off their dollar-denominated debts, they must be either unfathomably arrogant or extremely desperate. My read is the latter.
They really must want to keep those documents secret. There is no way that a country gobbling up it's meager monetary reserves could afford the hit to the value of those assets as they unwound them, even if they sold them off very slowly and predictably.
Something potentially very bad for world security is in those documents. Something that would force us into confrontation with the Saudis. Something that could cause a run on the dollar.
There must be some extremely senior officials involved in that report. Whoever they are, they're senior enough that they can't be made to disappear quietly into the night.
If those pages do contain information specifically identifying financiers of 9/11, the United States might be war-weary, but you can bet that a massive majority of Americans would demand their heads on pikes. As much as I support the public's right to know, that's a very nightmarish scenario.
Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's $3.00 :)
Thanks - makes much more sense. I haven't had my coffee yet. According to the Dept. of Energy that'd be about 7 gallons. ( http://energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-915-march-7-2016-averag... ) Not sure what typical passenger car engine efficiency was in those days, though.
I remember the '73 embargo vividly. Rationing was based on license plate, even or odd. My parent's two autos were one of each. Of course, a station wagon and pickup truck. So my dad would get up about 4:30, put the snub-nosed .38 under the seat, and go get in line. Those who waited until the station opened were too late. Stations had big signs up if they had no gas.
Gas was always pumped by the attendant. When you got to the pump, he would tell you how much gas you could have. Five gallons was common.
My parents were small business owners. The embargo put their business at the edge.