Will China stop buying US debt?

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

http://money.cnn.com/

[Urkidding]

http://i44.tinypic.com/iyob9v.jpg Edited March 30, 2009 by Urkidding (see edit history)

[IllinoisDave]

So I guess it's pretty much open season on politics here now? That's good to know. Amazing how a little thing like a change in administrations can change the policy that was pretty strictly adhered to for the last seven or so years. Used to be any hint of criticism at administrations, past or present, but especially the immediate past one, was cause for warnings, deletions and ultimately closure of a thread.

 

But I guess that's all over now that there's a different team in town? A team whose policies the powers-that-be don't care for? Couldn't criticize a war that was proven to have been entered into based on lies but it's ok to criticize economic policies as soon as they're announced without waiting to see if they work or not? Couldn't criticize the last admin. for torture or causing the country to be hated the world over but it's ok to accuse the present one of being a bunch of socialists or worse?

 

Was this change in policy actually posted somewhere? Because I missed it if it was.

[IllinoisDave]

So I guess it's pretty much open season on politics here now?

The economy has always been open for discussion as long as it didn't get into party politics; left vs right; dems vs pubs. The question is whether China will stop buying US debt. Since they have already shook their finger in our face and suggested a new global reserve currency (which is gaining support) it seems like a valid question.

Well I see Andrew has now altered his post which is what prompted my questions, in this thread at least.

[IllinoisDave]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123837276242467853.html

 

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. If we keep pissing China off, it may come back to bite us.

Interesting opinion from the WSJ op-ed page. What a shocker. The WSJ doesn't care for Democratic policies.

[amberjack1234]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123837276242467853.html

 

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. If we keep pissing China off, it may come back to bite us.

I'll buy that for a dollar. I was always taught you don't bite the hand that feeds you. I think that America has gotten a little to arrogant for our own good. I don't mean this from a political slant.

 

Larry

Edited March 30, 2009 by amberjack1234 (see edit history)

[chengdu4me]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123837276242467853.html

 

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. If we keep pissing China off, it may come back to bite us.

 

 

China can be pretty subtle when its wants to be. They know that they need to buy our debt to keep the dollar stable. They need the dollar to be spent on their goods to keep their people working. They won't need to stop buying US debt. They can just buy a little less, watch the dollar take a bit of a dive, watch the speculators turn to oil, watch the price of oil go up, and then they invite us to have a chat. Its all handled very politely over a charming visit, a tour of the Great Wall and a bit of tea...

[chengdu4me]

Keep an eye on China buying up commodities. They have a bid in for a big piece of Rio Tinto that was just approved. They are also sucking up with latin/south america to get in on the major oil finds. Give it ten years and we will be buying oil from China when they are top dog in OPEC. Not because they produce it, but they own it.

 

 

And they have their hands in tin, copper, iron, gold, manganese, and any other mineral that is available in Africa.

[IllinoisDave]

Keep an eye on China buying up commodities. They have a bid in for a big piece of Rio Tinto that was just approved. They are also sucking up with latin/south america to get in on the major oil finds. Give it ten years and we will be buying oil from China when they are top dog in OPEC. Not because they produce it, but they own it.

All the more reason for us to lessen our dependence on oil.

[Robert S.]

We need to do everything in our power to be as good of friends with China as possible. Don't let the hawks stir up antagonism. America and China pretty much fell in love with each other when we were allies during WWII and everything possible should be done by both sides to strengthen that.

[amberjack1234]

I certainly would like to see China continue to prosper but not at the demise of America. I do feel that the US and China are going to be in greater competition for commodities in the near future. I hope this does not lead to animosity between the two but I am afraid it will.

 

Larry

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

I certainly would like to see China continue to prosper but not at the demise of America. I do feel that the US and China are going to be in greater competition for commodities in the near future. I hope this does not lead to animosity between the two but I am afraid it will.

 

Larry

Many Political Science Majors believe the next real war the US will have will be against China. I hope not. China has increased its military spending over the years and the US has been putting a stronger Naval presence in and and around Chinese shipping routes. Right now a Naval confrontation with the US Navy China would be mauled very badly but in the next 10 years who knows. Also the US Navy could cut off the oil supply to China very easily today.

China could seek an ally in Japan or India to help counter the US.

[GZBILL]

China could seek an ally in Japan or India to help counter the US.

 

Japan? Highly unlikely.

[jsa23]

I certainly would like to see China continue to prosper but not at the demise of America. I do feel that the US and China are going to be in greater competition for commodities in the near future. I hope this does not lead to animosity between the two but I am afraid it will.

 

Larry

Many Political Science Majors believe the next real war the US will have will be against China. I hope not. China has increased its military spending over the years and the US has been putting a stronger Naval presence in and and around Chinese shipping routes. Right now a Naval confrontation with the US Navy China would be mauled very badly but in the next 10 years who knows. Also the US Navy could cut off the oil supply to China very easily today.

China could seek an ally in Japan or India to help counter the US.

 

It's possible that such a war could occur, but if it does, I see the likely cause as being related to U.S. insistence on pressing China on issues that are very sensitive to China but of limited value to the US.

 

On the upside, unlike an Iran or North Korea, China has shown itself to be pragmatic(if a bit self-serving) in its dealings, and thus there's still a lot more potential upside to the relationship if US leadership is willing to allow things to go that direction by not taking a hard line on every issue known to man.

 

The U.S. just needs to remember that the Chinese government is very pragmatic, and thus there is an abundance of issues of mutual interest with potential for cooperation, if we are willing to do so. They're not a bunch of ideologues, unlike most of our nation's current "enemies".

 

And as someone else mentioned, highly unlikely China would seek Japan as an ally. If anything, they're likely to end up on opposite sides of any conflict that involves them both.

Edited March 30, 2009 by jsa23 (see edit history)

[Christopher]

I certainly would like to see China continue to prosper but not at the demise of America. I do feel that the US and China are going to be in greater competition for commodities in the near future. I hope this does not lead to animosity between the two but I am afraid it will.

 

Larry

Many Political Science Majors believe the next real war the US will have will be against China. I hope not. China has increased its military spending over the years and the US has been putting a stronger Naval presence in and and around Chinese shipping routes. Right now a Naval confrontation with the US Navy China would be mauled very badly but in the next 10 years who knows. Also the US Navy could cut off the oil supply to China very easily today.

China could seek an ally in Japan or India to help counter the US.

US military spending is 10 times that of China, and will remain so for a long time to come. The US Navy is already changing to meet new challenges like fighting in shallow seas, dealing with superquiet diesel/electric subs, supersonic cruise missiles, and so on.

 

China is much more focused internally than externally, and that will not change for a long time.

 

Much of the US Naval presence in the Southern Pacific is for dealing with piracy. Considering what would happen to world shipping if we stopped the Navy from patrolling those areas, I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen soon.

 

Confrontations between Chinese and US military forces are deliberate, but not intended to actually lead to a full scale confrontation, unless we have a bunch of young hotheads running things in the Chinese military doing stuff not sanctioned by Party. More like imposing a little loss of face on the US, in tit-for-tat terms.