If we were to go to war with China

[moneymonger]

Quote from TigerBalm:

> China would never have any incentive to have a physical war with the United States when they've already won the economic war.

A question : this statement presumes that the U.S. is actually willing to work off it's ass to pay off the debt. And it easily could : I don't know the exact number but U.S. GDP is > $1.5 trillion per annum, I believe? But this presumes a paradigm continuance, i.e., that the U.S. continues to be the predominant producer of things that the world consumes : iPods, Windows XP, et al.

Does anyone foresee a scenario where the U.S. loses it's edge and cannot afford to pay off it's debt? For example, losing the technological edge due to lack of interest in mathematics and computer science, letting other nations beat it in the stem cell opportunity, etc;?

That actually could lead to tensions among the 2 nations.

In 2007 the USA had a 14 trillion GDP. In spite of prevailing perception the USA is still the worlds largest manufacturer. What the USA needs to do win the economic war is to completely reform the defined benefit pension system and go to a defined contribution paradigm. The crushing weight of legacy entitlements is sapping our competitive strength. This will never
happen in the current administration-I understand. The old saying that it took 4 years of Jimmy Carter to get us to Ronald Reagan applies here. From what I have seen thus far, Obama has never studied the mistakes of the 1970's-the disasterous energy policy for instance. I remain hopefull.

 

[forexinvestor]

Quote from Index piker:

I would think the debt situation would make war a less likely event between China and US.

It's a lose lose proposition at best.

USA's debt/deficit of $65 Trillion makes it impossible to borrow. USA credit rating is already destroyed from financial crisis so USA has nothing to lose from China war