"I'm just wondering how many of us BELIEVE any of the information being currently put out by the U.S. gov't...whether it be unemployment figures, housing starts, or how much debt the Chinese are stupid enough to buy."

Then the questions would be what are the correct numbers and what source could be trusted and when did the manipulation of those numbers started ?

Is this something that happened recently or has it been that way for long ? what's been the impact on the markets and the economy and what purpose does it serves ?

We know about the changes in accounting rules serving the banks as it's been discussed here and it could be argued different ways as being a sort of manipulation to increase trust in US financial institutions and intrust confidence in the economy but as for treasury bonds buying by China both countries seem to agree on the amounts and if both agree to lie on that matter then i guess the same could be true about any other country .

I could agree that it could be only partialy true in the sense that the number itself does'nt tell the whole story about the time frame of those bonds and how it compares to last year for instence .

In any case as it's been said and argued before the US dollar still remains at the present time the safest currency if only because of it's liquidity wich leaves little room for those wanting out untill it's value appears to change relatively to other major currencies wich most here agree will happen eventualy .

But as for now all US bond holdershave a strong incentive in supporting the dollar for their own good , not to mention the political clout those countries gain on the US .

Right now it appears that supporting the US economy and dollar is a matter of survival for most foreign US bond holders and it makes sense that some like China are increasing their hold while the US is financing it's mammoth deficit , the money has to come from somewhere apart from the printing machine .

Good night !

Tec