Talking head on CBS early waxing poetic about our

[cornermouse]

"interdependence" with China; they make, we buy. His conclusion was that because we are their largest market, they need us. My conclusion is that when our money runs out, our "interdependence" ends on the spot. Unfortunately, the way Bush has been spending our national treasury, I don't think its going to be much longer.

In the meantime, I notice that McCain, ever the good soldier, is now throwing himself on the grenade of social security for his president after the "3rd rail" started to look like it was going to electrocute Bush. (Sorry about the mixed metaphors, but you get my drift, I'm sure)

[ET Awful]

1. Did he also mention that China and Saudi Arabia own most of

Americas debt and they could call it due when they felt like it?

[cornermouse]

2. Of course not.

What did you expect from the media? Truth and reality?

[sasquatch]

3. Of course not, that would be based in reality

And these guys live in their own reality, not ours.

[punpirate]

4. Well, as for government debt...

... Japan's got the highest amount, and Saudi Arabia is a distant third, with China in the middle.

What most people don't know is that the largest foreign holder of commercial debt and corporate interests in this country as of a few years ago was Great Britain--almost 40%.

Sort of explains Blair's interest in Bush's schemes, doesn't it?

[ET Awful]

7. As I said, China and Saudi Arabia hold the majority of the debt

divided, no they do not, combined, they do.

[punpirate]

8. Maybe there's some confusion about...

... total debt of all kinds, investments and foreign-held securities.

This is as of Nov., 2003:



China is still not the majority part of the current account deficit, nor is Saudi Arabia. The situation's gotten worse in the year and a half since this distribution, but it would not substantively change the percentages shown. Most of those securities would be US debt in the form of Treasury bonds.

As well, the Saudis have been spending more than they take in throughout much of the `80s and `90s, so they have been quietly dumping holdings. There was some pressure from James Baker recently for them to buy some US government debt, but it was not a dramatic amount.

But, admittedly, I do wish I had a current debt distribution graph to solve this disagreement on relative shares.

Cheers.

[ET Awful]

9. I stand corrected (see link inside)

I was going by what I had read elsewhere, but, according to US Treasury reports, as of March 15 of this year apparently:

http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

[punpirate]

10. Might have been true...

... in the early to mid-`70s, when Japan had not made a significant dent in the US market, and OPEC was scarfing up money for increased oil prices.

But, these days, Japan continues to buy up securities and dollars at a prodigious rate, just to keep the dollar from sinking. I just wonder how they manage to keep on doing it....

Cheers.

[adwon]

5. I kind of feel bad for McCain

It was pretty apparent last year that he wasn't thrilled to be out pimping for W. He apparently doesn't realize that he's just not rabid enough to get Pat Robertson's blessing.

[applegrove]

6. I keep saying that they promised Rove to McCain. That is why

he will do anything for them.