How much is that in real money?

It isn't all that much in context, just $10 billion, that China proposes to loan to the Stans of central Asia. They have to do something with the baled currency we send them for leaded-paint toys and food-grade melamine for babies. And I suppose it's just as well they lend it to used-camel dealers as spend it on more attack submarines.

Global strategic implications are somewhat worrisome, but the real ass-kick comes in the side announcements at the meeting. The Chinese participants grinned and grinned as their comrades the Russians declared that the dollar is an interesting historical artifact but had seen its day as the world's reserve currency.

( Medvedev and China don't want to kill the dollar just yet; they have a lot of them to get rid of and so are pleased to continue to support Bush and Obama magic show while they dole greenbacks carefully around the world in return for goods and, particularly, influence.)

And I'll just betcha that someone in Washington today is going to go on the electric television and act surprised. If he's faking it he's just another shrewd politician. If he really is amazed that someone is attacking the American Dollar, he's a doofus who thinks you really can have an honest dollar while taking on debts you can't repay -- such as volitionary wars and free doctoring for the masses to eventually include everything from Viagara to liposuction to hair restoration, (quality-of-life issues, dontcha see?). All paid for by an economy based on trading paper promises back and forth with Washington as the referee and creator of additional promises.

Economic predictions get pretty Nostradamic, but it isn't much of a stretch to imagine your grandkids knowing, right off, how many bushels of dollars it takes to buy a 6G X-Box priced in zlotys.