Joe Weisenthal on Glen Beck. Normally (never) a Glen Beck fan, but this is a really interesting story, and cool to see Joe on TV.
Summary: Two men were caught with $134 BILLION of U.S. Treasury Bonds at the Italian border, heading into Switzerland. To give you an idea of the magnitude of that number, here are the top 6 total U.S. bondholders in the world, and the amounts they hold. Which one of these things does not belong?
- China - $763.5 billion
- Japan - $685.9 billion
- United Kingdom - $152.8 billion
- Russia - $137.0 billion
- THESE GUYS ON THE ITALIAN BORDER - $134 billion
- Brazil - $126.0 billion
If the bonds are fake, it points to the existence of a MASSIVE and sophisticated counterfeiting operation, the likes of which has never been seen. If the bonds are real, it suggests that a major world power is trying to SECRETLY liquidate a substantial portion of their dollar-denominated assets.
Either possibility is intriguing, and the fact that the men have been in custody for almost a day with no official word on the veracity of the bonds is more intriguing still.
