Foreign Official Questions Sovereign Debt Default by the U.S.

It’s not just people in the U.S. blogosphere who are concerned about sovereign debt default by the U.S. A Minister of the Australian Parliament has questioned whether the U.S. will default on its debt.

From the Age:

Senior government figures have taken aim at Barnaby Joyce's dire warning about a global financial meltdown if the United States government defaults on its debt. Mr Joyce also came under fire for comments about the financial health of Australian states.

Senator Joyce is concerned that demand for Australia's resources would ''go through the floor'' if the US was not able to pay off its burgeoning foreign debt.

Senator Joyce told Fairfax Media he did not mean to alarm the public but there needed to be a debate about Australia's ''contingency plan'' for a sovereign debt default by the US or even by a local state government.

''How would Australia go forward in a position where the dynamics of the global economy are all changed,'' he said on ABC Radio today.

http://www.theage.com.au/business/joyce-blasted-for-extremist-views-on-debt-20091211-kn3d.html