Again, let me stress how little I know about econ. That said, I think Sean-Paul knows a great deal, and like him, I'm kinda blown away by this

I had to re-read this today, I just couldn't believe it. Brazil has erased all of its debt? No way!
Yes way, says Morgan Stanley's Steven S. Roach:

Brazil, now the poster child of external debt reduction, is on a trajectory to eliminate its foreign indebtedness altogether within the next month or two -- an amazing transformation from the angst of January 2003, when the country’s net external indebtedness stood at $64 billion.

Are we witnessing a multigenerational wealth transfer from "developed economies" to "developing economies?" A reversion to the pre-colonial mean?

Let's all remember back to those miserable days of the Blue Dress, when we had a surplus n shit. And while I too am glad our "long nightmare with peace and prosperity" is finally over, I do wonder about just how long the rest of the world is going to be interested in holding us afloat, especially as we kick them in the nuts every chance we get.

Truly, even now, there are days when I stand in awe at the monumental incompetence of the Bush administration. Destroying a great nation seems not to be Hard Work after all.