Government Shut Down

[Lamplighter]

For the Adak's and others who think a default would have no effect...

NY times
MARK LANDLER
October 15, 2013

Seeing Its Own Money at Risk, China Rails at U.S.

WASHINGTON — China has become shrill in its criticism of the fiscal train wreck in the United States,
arguing that the answer to a potential government default is to begin creating a “de-Americanized world.”
Beijing’s alarm is understandable, given that it is the world’s largest investor in American public debt,
with at least $1.3 trillion in holdings.
<snip>
It called for the replacement of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency
“so that the international community could permanently stay away from the spillover
of the intensifying domestic political turmoil in the United States.”

“As U.S. politicians of both political parties are still shuffling back and forth ...
“it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world.”
<snip>
Edwin M. Truman, an economist and former Treasury Department official, said:
“This is political blather. It is a politically defensive response to the choices China has made.”

That does not mean a brush with default will not have long-term damaging consequences
for the United States. Even if China continues to buy Treasury bonds, economists said,
it may opt for those with shorter maturities, which would drive up long-term interest rates
in the United States, hurting home buyers and owners of small businesses.

Japan is also starting to rumble publicly along these lines.