Zlow Hand, once all the chips are on one side of the table, the chips on that side of the table are no longer good because they are owed by the other side of the table that has no chips. Even if you give a good part of the chips back to the other side, they are still all owed to the other side of the table. All the money owed is owed by all the people with the money. It can't be collected from the other side. I heard a guy one time that knew what he was talking about. This sounds like a joke, but he said that if you had the money you owed it, which is why they call a $10 bill a bill. Who are they going to collect from, those that don't have any money? The vast majority of what we call savings is evidenced by debt. The FRN is a collateralized by a debt that only the FRN itself can pay. The money in the banks are collateralized by debt that can only be paid by those that have the deposits. Even if you wanted to pay in gold, you would have to exchange it for currency or bank deposits, which are pretty much equivalent until the bank can't pay. The entire mess is a circular paradox that requires more debt in order to keep going. At what point is the bottom sucked dry from the top? Game over. http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/

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The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.---John Kenneth Galbraith