The US Ponzi scheme. How long can it prosper?

EDITORIAL

Before the Fall


Published: April 2, 2005

The recent rally of the United States dollar notwithstanding, the greenback has nowhere to go but down. But the Bush administration is betting that foreign investors will continue to invest huge sums in this depreciating currency. How huge? Last month, the government reported that the United States' deficit in international transactions, mainly trade, reached an unprecedented $666 billion in 2004, a 24 percent increase from the 2003 level and, at 5.7 percent of the economy, about two to three times what most economists consider sustainable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/opinion/02sat1.html?th&emc=th

America's ponzi scheme. How long can it survive.