WHAT SUPERPOWER ARE YOU
TALKING ABOUT? READ THIS ARTICLE AND THINK AGAIN…
by
Greg Bocquet
Monday, February 28, 2011
Regardless of how much
closer Obama's budget brings our economy into a balance of payments
not seen since 2001, we will continue to run deficits for the next
decade, and the national debt will keep growing every year that
happens.
While most of the
country's $14 trillion debt is held by private banks in the U.S., the
Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board estimate that, as
of December, about $4.4
trillion of it was held by foreign governments that purchase our
treasury securities much as an investor buys shares in a company and
comes to own his or her little chunk of the organization.
Looking at the list of
our top international creditors, a few overall characteristics show
some interesting trends: Three of the top 10 spots are held by China
and its constituent parts, and while two of our biggest creditors are
fellow English-speaking democracies, a considerable share of our debt
is held by oil exporters that tend to be decidedly less friendly in
other areas of international relations.
Here we break down the
top 10 foreign holders of U.S. debt, comparing each creditor's
holdings with the equivalent chunk of the United States they "own,"
represented by the latest (2009) state
gross domestic product data released by the U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis. Obviously, these creditors won't actually take
states from us as payment on our debts, but it's fun to imagine what
states and national monuments they could assert a claim to.
1.
Mainland China
Amount of U.S. debt:
$891.6 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 20.4%
Building on the holdings
of its associated territories, China is the undisputed largest holder
of U.S. foreign debt in the world. Accounting for 20.4% of the total,
mainland China's $891.6 billion in U.S. treasury securities is almost
equal to the combined 2009 GDP of Illinois ($630.4 billion) and
Indiana ($262.6 billion) in 2009, a shade higher at a combined $893
billion. As President Obama -- who is from Chicago -- wrangles over
his proposed budget with Congress he may be wise to remember that his
home city may be at stake in the deal.
2.
Japan
Amount of U.S. debt:
$883.6 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 20.2%
The runner-up on the list
of our most significant international creditors goes to Japan, which
accounts for over a fifth of our foreign debt holdings with $883.6
billion in U.S. treasury securities. That astronomical number is just
shy of the combined GDP of a significant chunk of the lower 48:
Minnesota ($260.7 billion), Wisconsin ($244.4 billion), Iowa ($142.3
billion) and Missouri ($239.8 billion) produced a combined output of
$887.2 billion in 2009.
3.
United Kingdom
Amount of U.S. debt:
$541.3 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 12.4%
At number three on the
list is perhaps our closest ally on the world stage, the United
Kingdom (which includes the British provinces of England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Channel Islands and the
Isle of Man). The U.K. holds $541.3 billion in U.S. foreign debt,
which is 12.4% of our total external debt. That amount is equivalent
to the combined GDP of two East Coast manufacturing hubs, Delaware
($60.6 billion) and New Jersey ($483 billion) -- which was named,
yes, after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The two
states' combined output in 2009 came to $543.6 billion.
4.
Oil Exporters
Amount of U.S. debt:
$218 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 5%
Another grouped entry,
the oil exporters form another international bloc with money to burn.
The group includes 15 countries as diverse as the regions they
represent: Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria,
Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria. As a group they hold 5% of all American
foreign debt, with a combined $218 billion of U.S. treasury
securities in their own treasuries. That's roughly equivalent to the
combined 2009 GDP of Nebraska ($86.4 billion) and Kansas ($124.9
billion), which seems to be an equal trade: The two states produce a
bunch of grain for export, which many of the arid oil producers tend
to trade for oil.
5.
Brazil
Amount of U.S. debt:
$180.8 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 4.1%
Rounding out the top five
is the largest economy in South America, Brazil. The country known
for its beaches, Carnaval and the unbridled hedonism that goes along
with both has made a big investment in the U.S., buying up $180.8
billion in American debt up to December. That's almost equal to the
$180.5 billion combined GDP of Idaho ($54 billion) and Nevada ($126.5
billion), a state that is no stranger to hedonism itself.
6.
Caribbean Banking Centers
Amount of U.S. debt:
$155.6 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 3.6%
You have to have cash on
hand to buy up U.S. government debt, and offshore banking has given
six countries the combined capital needed to make the Caribbean
Banking Centers our sixth-largest foreign creditor. The Treasury
Department counts the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the
Netherlands Antilles, Panama and the British Virgin Islands in this
designation, which as a group holds $155.6 billion in U.S. treasury
securities. That's equivalent to the GDP of landlocked Kentucky
($156.6 billion), whose residents may not actually mind if they were
ever to become an extension of some Caribbean island paradise.
7.
Hong Kong
Amount of U.S. debt:
$138.2 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 3.2%
At No. 7 on the list of
our foreign creditors is Hong Kong, a formerly British part of China
that maintains a separate government and economic ties than the
communist mainland. With $138.2 billion in U.S. treasury securities,
the capitalist enclave could lay claim to Yellowstone Park and our
nation's capital: The combined GDP of Wyoming ($37.5 billion) and
Washington D.C. ($99.1 billion) totaled $136.6 billion in 2009.
8.
Canada
Amount of U.S. debt:
$134.6 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 3.1%
They say that a friend in
need is a friend indeed, and our neighbor to the north has proven to
be a kind and generous creditor in our time of financial need. Canada
holds about 3.1% of our foreign debt, or $134.6 billion. If friend
were to become enemy and Canada were looking to annex some U.S. land
to cover the debt though, the country would have an easy time of it.
The combined GDP of Maine ($51.3 billion), New Hampshire ($59.4
billion) and Vermont ($25.4 billion) comes close to Canada's debt
holdings at $136.1 billion.
Residents of the three
states in our extreme northeast corner should start practicing their
French: They might become Québécois
one of these days.
9.
Taiwan
Amount of U.S. debt:
$131.9 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 3.0%
Taiwan, an island barely
100 miles off the coast of China, is claimed by the People's Republic
of China, despite having its own government and economic relations
with the outside world. Part of those economic relations includes the
island's holding of $131.9 billion of U.S. debt, roughly equivalent
to the combined GDP of West Virginia ($63.3 billion) and Hawaii
($66.4 billion), which totals $129.7 billion.
Unless we get our
spending in check, we risk losing some of our most visually stunning
territory (West Virginia, obviously) to our friendly neighbors on the
other side of the Pacific Ocean.
10.
Russia
Amount of U.S. debt:
$106.2 billion
Share of total foreign
debt: 2.4%
Starting off the list of
our major foreign creditors is Russia, which holds about 2.4% of the
U.S. debt pie that sits on the international dinner table. Its $106.2
billion in treasury securities is equivalent to the 2009 GDP of our
sparsely populated North: The combined output of North Dakota ($31.9
billion), South Dakota ($38.3 billion) and Montana ($36 billion)
matches up nicely with the Russian holdings, at $106.2 billion.
Let's hope Russian
president Dmitry Medvedev doesn't come to collect.
SO
WHO’S THE SUPERPOWER NOW? THE DEBT-RIDDEN ECONOMY OF THE ONCE
TOUTED AS THE “REMAINING SUPERPOWER” WILL SOON CAUSE ITS
COLLAPSE.
THE UNITED STATES WILL SOON DISINTEGRATE INTO SEVERAL INDEPENDENT STATES LIKE THE FATE OF ITS FORMER ARCHRIVAL, THE USSR. SEE HOW THE EVENTS ARE NOW UNFOLDING RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES.
A NEW WORLD ORDER WILL THEN EMERGE. BETTER WATCH OUT! THE SLEEPING GIANT HAS AWAKENED…CHINA WILL DOMINATE THE REMAINDER OF THE CENTURY. SO PREPARE FOR THE CHINAVASION PEEPS!
- Malayang Filipino
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