"Burning Platform"

The information in recent posts relating to bond ratings and the declining dollar has far-reaching consequences. Take a look at this headline from the Financial Times, January 11, 2008: "US's triple-A credit rating 'under threat'"

The US is at risk of losing its top-notch triple-A credit rating within a decade unless it takes radical action to curb soaring healthcare and social security spending, Moody's, the credit rating agency, said yesterday.

The warning over the future of the triple-A rating - granted to US government debt since it was first assessed in 1917 - reflects growing concerns over the country's ability to retain its financial and economic supremacy.

Also from the Financial Times, August 14, 2007:

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr. David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller, warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government.”

“Sound familiar?” Mr Walker said. “In my view, it’s time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time.”

Mr Walker’s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress.