re: #875 godfrey
Huh.

The Chinese now hold about $1 trillion worth of U.S. debt, including Treasury notes and other securities. That gives them enormous power over the U.S. economy. Were they to suddenly sell those securities, the U.S. dollar would tank.

And the fact is if the Chinese did sell all those securities they’d be getting paid back in dollars that are worth far less than the dollars they used to buy those securities.
And they’d lost their most valuable export “partner” in the process. Who the hell but the US would buy so much in the way of Chinese goods?
And what would the Chinese do if the US said “sorry we can’t afford to pay back foreign governments until we pay back individuals and domestic businesses first”?