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Supernotes Update: One of the Macau banks named in a U.S. Treasury Department investigation of North Korean money laundering, Delta Asia Bank, is reported to be on the verge of collapse as depositors run for their money. The Macau government has had to intervene, and I read between the lines that a bailout may be necessary. Delta is Macau’s number two bank, and Macau is a notorious haven for North Korean skullduggery. More background on the “wedding” that began the story here and here, and follow the links.

This story may have been our secret weapon in the nuclear talks–against both North Korea and China. Certainly the leaked threat to blacklist the Bank of China must have puckered some rectii in Beijing.

If you want read more about China’s fear that runs on its many insolvent banks–many of which are burdened with bad loans to state-owned enterprises–could destabilize the country, check out Gordon Chang’s The Coming Collapse of China. Personally, I found the style more editorial than analytical and the central thesis only partially persuasive, but I recommend it anyway.

Update: Welcome, Austin Bay readers!

Update 2: Link fixed. Sorry.