> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 3:17 PM, Xiaofan Chen wrote: >> On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 11:59 PM, Gordon Williams >> 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). > > I should mention that if these money in put in the Chinese stock > market, the lost will be even greater... These funds, I assume, are in the form of government bonds where the government has borrowed money to fund its operations. What about the trade deficit? Is this included in that sum or not? Or, is there another rather large "accounts payable" ledger somewhere? Harold -- FCC Rules Updated Daily at http://www.hallikainen.com - Advertising opportunities available! -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist