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2004-05-10 Southeast Asia
Pull funds from US, Mahathir urges Arabs
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Posted by Mark Espinola 2004-05-10 1:19:45 AM|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Moonbat: "We have other means to fight them rather than attacking them blindly, but we didn’t want to use them. I have spoken about using oil as a weapon"

Fine, we'll use weapons as weapons....take the oil from our enemies, then you'll be a bunch of backwards 7th century numbskulls, seething and crying at your stupid plight. Drama queens, indeed
Posted by Frank G  2004-05-10 10:40:46 AM||   2004-05-10 10:40:46 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Muslims don't park their funds in the US because they like Americans, any more than Americans buy oil from Arab countries because we like them. Muslims buy real estate in the US because it is, unlike Europe, gaining population, which tends to boost real estate prices. They buy Treasury bonds because the US is a model of fiscal prudence compared to Europe, and has competitive yields. And they buy American stocks because American companies are a font of innovation - always at the forefront of their industries. If the US loses its edge, funds will flow out of the country. But even if that happens, the worst that will happen is that the US economy will end up looking a lot like Canada's economy, not the Muslim worlds' economies.

Mahathir (and all of Malaysia's rulers) have had a longstanding problem with economic illiteracy. When Malaysia and Singapore were formed out of what was formerly Malaya in 1965, both countries were at parity, economically. In 2001, Singapore's nominal GDP per capita was USD$20,847. And Malaysia's was - wait for it - USD$3,696.

I think Muslims should follow Mahathir's advice. It may do for Muslim investors what it did for Malaysia.
Posted by Zhang Fei  2004-05-10 10:56:37 AM||   2004-05-10 10:56:37 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Article: Despite debts amounting to US$4 trillion (S$6.8 trillion), the US remains the richest country in the world due to these deposits, he said.

Much of this debt is held by domestic pension and mutual funds. Foreign central banks that hold US debt typically do so as a means of parking their US currency holdings in some liquid asset that generates income. Why are they keeping US dollar holdings? Because the alternative is to sell these US dollar holdings, which would decrease the international competitiveness of their goods with respect to the US. Foreigners don't buy US dollars because they like Americans - they buy them to keep their economies competitive.
Posted by Zhang Fei  2004-05-10 12:01:46 PM||   2004-05-10 12:01:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 I say let them take their money out of our country. While they're at it...take their fellow countrymen as well.
Posted by Val 2004-05-10 12:36:05 PM||   2004-05-10 12:36:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 The best that can be said for Malaysia is that it's not Indonesia. A plague upon their houses (although they're so disease ridden, I'm not sure they would recognize it.)
Posted by Random thoughts 2004-05-10 1:15:59 PM||   2004-05-10 1:15:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Someone clarify for me, please.

If all Muslims removed their holdings from America, wouldn't this make it infinitely easier to trace contributions and donations to the terrorist charities like Hamas?
Posted by Zenster 2004-05-10 8:28:00 PM||   2004-05-10 8:28:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Zenster, you have some really gung ho, “pro-military” solutions, but I don’t recall you ever answering a central question that you have been repeatedly asked: How do you square your “kill them all, let God sort them out” rhetoric with your “Bush is a crook” rhetoric? Generally, when I ask you this question you just stop posting for awhile, but I really think inquiring minds would like to hear your answer to the question. I don't mean to be nosey, I was just born that way.
Posted by Anonymous4788 2004-05-10 8:34:44 PM||   2004-05-10 8:34:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Anonymous4788 was me.
Posted by cingold 2004-05-10 8:35:49 PM||   2004-05-10 8:35:49 PM|| Front Page Top

22:32 JimR
07:30 Dog of Flanders
12:57 Frank G
12:45 muck4doo
12:37 muck4doo
12:06 Mr. Davis
11:46 Robert Crawford
11:40 Aris Katsaris
10:53 Robert Crawford
10:22 Aris Katsaris
10:11 Robert Crawford
10:09 Aris Katsaris
10:04 Marc Bolans Mini
10:02 Aris Katsaris
10:00 Aris Katsaris
09:56 ed
09:56 CrazyFool
09:51 Robert Crawford
09:15 badanov
09:06 Aris Katsaris
06:15 Anonymous4617
01:14 BigEd
01:09 B
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