Mr. Greenspan spoke to a Chamber of Commerce group recently and soothed the anxiety by announcing "employment will increase more quickly before long as output continues to expand." Wow, am I glad to hear that.

The story in brief is that the US GDP should grow at the expected rate then jobs will appear.

Only problem is that it looks most likely these jobs will appear in India and China.

The economic scene is less rosy when we compare debt to the productive part of the GDP (manufacturing, construction, mining, public utilities, agriculture and transportation.) The productive, or wealth creating sectors are now less than 30% of GDP according to US Commerce Dept. data.

Right now we are fueling our economy by government spending, expanding debt, reduced savings, extracting value from existing assets such as our homes.

If job creation and income generation continue to slip, the sustainability of consumptionwill require increasing support from the same negative sources of growth.

Asia continues to buy US bonds and keep their currencies weak as a form of what is called "vendor financing." Loaning money to your customers to enable them to buy your goods. The trick is to keep your currency cheap so your exports will be competitive and you can gain market share to the point of market control.

If this lending should stop, it would mean bankruptcy for the customer, non-performing loans for the vendor and a severe capital implosion for everyone.

If you have a solution, drive your Lexus over, burn some Saudi gas, and tell me over our glass of Irish whiskey.

Publius