rigel

The Reverse Wealth Effect

Jerbear, while they arguably could do it, there's very little incentive for them to do so. Sovereign wealth largely funded the booms in the US. If they tried to manipulate oil prices to tank the US economy, those investments would be lost. In fact, as the recent bust happened, foreign dollars stepped in (arguably too early). If you were manipulating a downfall, you might be more careful about picking the bottom.

China has a lot of US treasuries and manufactures a lot of US goods. It's certainly not in their best interest to help orchestrate a US downfall.

Regulation Fever and the Banking Sector

I have full faith that the government can figure out banking better than anyone. Just look at the successful track record the government has with managing its own spending and investing. Or look at the quality of reporting figures by the government (GDP, CPI, employement, etc). Businesses should be held to the same standards.