You Owe $4,000

...or so foes the proverb. China, vastly perceived as a land populated by the poor, has lent $1.4 trillion to the US and that figure grows by $1 Billion every day. Every American owes someone in China $4,000 today, and lives his or her life on Chinese credit. China has one of the highest savings rates in the world while the US saving rate has been hovering around zero for years. As James Fallows observes in The Atlantic, " Easy access to Chinese money has made it harder for every American to face up to their own structural problems." So while the worlds most powerful nation goes on living large, it's runner-up keeps stashing its money away, waiting for the right moment. When America's debts have finally piled high enough and when the nation is off it's guard. China will reveal it's talons and swoop in for the kill.

Taken from AdBusters May/June
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