Information Related to "World News Review January 2007"
| Audio/Video |
 |
In Brief... World News Reviewby Mike BennettShould Biggest Debtor Nation Be Worried? "If the United States was a small or less-developed country, financial alarm bells would already be ringing. The U.S. current account deficit is well above the 5%-of-GDP standard the IMF and others use to pronounce economies in the developing world vulnerable to financial crisis" (John Miller, Dollars and Sense, January/February 2005). For the first three quarters of 2006, the current account deficit totaled $655.9 billion, putting it on track to reach $874.5 billion for the entire year. The current account deficit "essentially measures the nation's debt with the rest of the world, which must be financed by loans from abroad or asset sales to foreigners. "Some economists are worried that foreign investors will lose their appetite for US assets, causing the dollar to fall sharply and forcing interest rates higher to attract the needed investment" ("US Q3 Current Account Deficit Grows to 225.6 bln usd, Equals 6.8 pct of GDP," Forbes.com, Dec. 18, 2006). Not only is the United States the biggest debtor nation in the world, now "foreigners hold more than 50% of our debt, which makes them majority owners," says Todd Harrison (MarketWatch.com, Dec. 20, 2006). The United States has been the largest economy in the world, and the U.S. dollar has served as the world's reserve currency for decades, since the British currency lost that advantage after World War II. Britain had gone from the world's biggest creditor in 1913 to become a net debtor after two costly world wars. With the United States now as the biggest debtor, can its dollar still continue to be in demand? Will other nations keep accepting the flood of dollars and buying the billions in American treasury bonds necessary to keep it afloat? The Bible warns, "The borrower is servant to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7). And in a prophecy of the results of not obeying God, the Bible says that the foreigner "shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him" (Deuteronomy 28:44). The handwriting is on the wall. Saudi King Says Arab World Waiting to Explode AFP reported on Dec. 9, 2006: "Saudi King Abdullah opened the annual summit of Gulf leaders with a warning that the Arab world was on the brink of exploding because of conflicts in the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Lebanon. "'Our Arab region is besieged by a number of dangers, as if it was a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode,'" King Abdullah said. He was addressing the heads of state of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Arab Times of Kuwait reported Dec. 10 that the leaders were instructing their security agencies to come up with a joint plan to deal with the risks arising from the situation in Iraq, including "population displacement, terrorist and criminal acts and the smuggling of weapons…and infiltration" of militants across borders. The recommendations also called for protecting the GCC states from the potential "sectarian repercussions" of the conflict in Iraq. The Sunni-dominated GCC countries have Shiite minorities, except Bahrain where Shiites are in the majority (although its ruling family is Sunni). In apparent response to Iran's nuclear program and Israel's admission to having nuclear bombs, the Gulf countries also announced plans for a joint atomic program. "The countries of the region have the right to nuclear energy technology for peaceful purposes," said Abdul-Rahman al-Attiya, secretary-general of the GCC. GCC leaders also discussed steps toward establishing a common market by 2007 and a single currency by 2010. WNP |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| © 1995-2022 United
Church of God, an International Association | Request
Free Literature Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@wnponline.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@churchofgodtwincities.org. |
|
Related Information:
Other Articles by Mike Bennett
Origin of article "World News Review January 2007"
Keywords: Gulf Cooperation Council GCC U.S. debt Arab world Saudi Arabia Iraq
Saudi Arabia:
