Iran halts oil sales to France, Britain

[TexasPaganDem]

12. This might be a bit out of date but...

I remember a few years ago when the biggest concern about cutting off oil from Iran was China and it's growing economy. The concern was that China was / is one of Iran's biggest customers. China also holds the third largest amount of U.S. debt after the Social Security trust fund and the Federal Reserve (about 8 percent or $1.2 trillion dollars). The issue was that if we choked off enough oil from Iran that China's growth was burdened, China could, in retaliation, request payment for the debt they held.

Forward back to today.

The 2011 budget was $3.69 trillion dollars. If the U.S. Government had to make $1.2 trillion in what amounts to bearer bonds good during a fiscal year, or even a large portion of it, the U.S. economy would make Greece look like they had it good.

But that being said, Iran only produces about 5% of the world's oil. Russia, Saudia Arabia, and the U.S. all produce more (significantly so), and both Russia and the U.S. have debated increasing production; as have Argentina and Brazil. OPEC stating that they would cut back production if the U.S. and Russia increased production would keep the oil markets still rising, however.