Biggest Story of the Day: China
The New York Times reports: “China has bought more than $1 trillion of American debt, but as the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to keep more of its money at home, a move that could have painful effects for American borrowers. The declining Chinese appetite for United States debt, apparent in a series of hints from Chinese policy makers over the last two weeks, with official statistics due for release in the next few days, comes at an inconvenient time.” I just love the Times’ use of the word “inconvenient” there. It’s very stiff-upper-lip British, rather like Field Marshall Montgomery, when the Germans routed his troops with massive casualties, exclaiming: “Well, that’s not very sporting of them.” If China starts to buy fewer U.S. Treasury bills, every sector of our economy — from Detroit cars to Hollywood entertainment — will be affected.
