As of the end of March 2013 — the most recent period for which the Bulletin provides a breakdown — total federal debt stood at $16.8 trillion. It has since grown to nearly $17.2 trillion
Quote:
Another 34 percent of total federal debt is owed to foreigners, including China (which owned nearly $1.3 trillion of the total debt, or about 8 percent), closely followed by Japan, which owned $1.1 trillion, or 7 percent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a fuck-ton of money, to be certain. But so many people here in 'Merica seem to think that, should China call all of its debts, we'd all be in a world of hurt and we would have to all learn Chinese. Every single time I see something that talks about America's debt being mostly owned by the Chinese (or simply alluding to that fact), I have to point out that they do not own that much US debt (percentage wise, for those of you in the cheap seats). I don't care if they own $65,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's septillion) of America's debt, if it's only 8% of the total debt, it's still not that much; in comparison to the total sum of debt.
I'll argue semantics all day, but 8% is 2/25ths and that's pretty insignificant any which way you slice it.
Still not saying it will be doomsday, but downplaying it isn't the way to go either. The US would hurt if all of sudden the debt collectors are there. (goes for most countries with a lot of debts in foreign hands tho)
If they would want their money TODAY that 8% would fuck up the country beyond good and evil.
I never said it wouldn't fuck things up for pretty much everyone, but it wouldn't make China the sovereign ruler of these United States either.
Of course, keep in mind that, should China choose to call in its marker, (and also assuming that the US would actually pay) China would fuck up the US dollar just enough to screw with many other countries' economies as well (and I despise the fact that one country's economy could hold such sway with most of the world's economies; unfortunately, this is how things have been done for so long that it's nigh impossible to change it now).
I suppose I'm complaining mostly about the fact that so many people think that China owns the US because of how much debt they own. I live in one of the more conservative parts of the nation and the "Obama is Satan" rhetoric is wearing thin on me lately. And, believe it or not, those same people who say such things also think that China owns the majority of US debt thanks to our current POTUS.
The fact remains that, in order to operate a country, a certain amount of debt is (pretty much) a requirement.
I used to be very fond of saying things like, "If I ran my business like the government ran theirs, I'd be out of business." Once I learned just how a government's "business" (using the loosest definition of that word) is truly run, I realized just how ignorant such statements are.
Again, I'm not arguing anything but the semantics here.
Signature/Avatar nuking: none (can be changed in your profile)
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
