On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 11:59 PM, Gordon Williams <g_will@cyberus.ca> wrote:
> On foreign ownership: "...U.S. Treasury statistics indicate that, at the end
> of 2006, foreigners held 44% of federal debt held by the public.  About 66%
> of that 44% was held by the central banks of other countries, in particular
> the central banks of Japan and China. In total, lenders from Japan and China
> held 47% of the foreign-owned debt".  Better be nice to Japan and China.
>

Actually US now have China and Japan in hostages. China's foreign
reserves (managed by the central banks and finance ministry and
invests a lot in US bonds including significant portion in bonds of
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)  have been estimated to lose tens of billions
of US dollars (or even more if counting the losses of other Chinese state
owned banks).

And yet China is still a poor country with average GDP per capita about
US$2000 Those money would be much better to put into education and
build basic infrastructures in the poor western region.

Japan is in a different situation. It is a rich country. So they are
supposed to benefit in the current situation as they have cash
rich companies. Still they should not forget the lessons learned
from the earlier 1990s.

Xiaofan
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist