Sunday, April 4, 2010

Who owns America's debt?

Great graphic showing growth in debt and ownership of it.  See here.  I had not realized how recently China came to owning so much of our government debt nor how much Japan still owned.
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9 comments:

  1. Ashlee SteudleApril 4, 2010 at 8:16 AM

    I knew that China took on a lot of our debt when the US first started experiencing its latest housing crisis. However, I was shocked to see how much of America's debt that Japan owns. The news/ media always refers to the China-US economic trade and debt dynamic, but they rarely discuss Japan.

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  2. Chloe ReevesApril 4, 2010 at 2:18 PM

    I did not realize that Japan held so much of our debt either. I also thought that Mexico held a percentage of American debt but I did not see that depicted on the graph.

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  3. k06rl01April 5, 2010 at 11:50 AM

    I knew that China held a large portion of our debt but I had no idea that Japan had such a large portion. It is also interesting to see that Luxembourg is involved in our debt position.

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  4. Ben MinkoffApril 5, 2010 at 4:44 PM

    First, I would have to agree all three of these previous statements. It is not surprising to see that Japan holds a majority of our debt. I think a possible strategy that the United States should take care of the debt with the other countries first and then pay the Japan and Chinese debt later on.

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  5. Ben MinkoffApril 5, 2010 at 4:45 PM

    Also I think Rob Lindens statement was pure genius. He is in fact a learned doctor.

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  6. DanaApril 5, 2010 at 9:24 PM

    I haven't heard much at all about Japan having such a large part in owning America's debt...does anyone know what exactly led to China increasing its ownership of our debt? I think I noticed the biggest switch/increase for China between 2005 and 2006...

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  7. Ryan BizzisApril 6, 2010 at 7:58 AM

    Unlike others I'm not very surprised to see that Japan owns such a large portion of our debt. The huge influence they have on the American auto and electronics industries among others is an indicator to me. The United States is Japan's largest trade partner as we account for over 25% of their exports. It has also been reported they have been running in excess of 80 billion in trade surplus with the US since 2000.

    I also agree with Ben. Rob Linden's comment spoke volumes to me. Nobel Prize?

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  8. tcmtApril 6, 2010 at 9:36 AM

    I apparently agree with everyone but Ryan, the Japanese proportion of the debt was surprising to me. Also that Luxembourg and he Caribbean hold so much of the American debt is not surprising but amusing. It makes sense though as the biggest of our creditors are also our biggest trade partners (ie China, Japan and the Oil exporters) when we look at the formula that relates the trade imbalance to public savings from macroeconomics (I am embarrassed to admit I don't have it memorized)

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  9. Adam ManixApril 6, 2010 at 2:35 PM

    I honestly expected China to have such a dominant hold on our debt simply because China is the country American's like to throw out their in debt conversations. I was very shocked to see Japan controlling such a largre portion, I expected them to be more consistent with a country such as Luxembourg.

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