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by maxerickson 3463 days ago
US debt to GDP is not really different than other developed economies:

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt...

The question of which country loses more if the US and China stop trading probably doesn't need to be answered; both countries would lose so much that it won't happen abruptly.

2 comments

Right, which is why everyone let the US slip by when the economy collapsed. If it were some African nation that had their entire housing market collapse, you really think the rest of the world would've just let it slide?

It's no different with China. The world can't afford to let their economy collapse, and so they won't. This isn't Russia we're talking about here, who for all intents and purposes is completely isolated outside of providing arms to the world, space launching (although that reliance is quickly going away), and cheap natural gas to Europe. If/when their economy collapses again, it will have almost no effect on the western world. If China collapses, we're all in trouble.

What are some concrete examples of Right, which is why everyone let the US slip by when the economy collapsed. happening?

My memory is that other parts of the world had their own economic problems at the same time as the US housing crisis and were paying the US government for the privilege of owning US treasury bonds (rates were 0 ish for quite a while).

On the other side of it, shrugging does seem to have been the standard external response to the currency crisis in Zimbabwe.

I dunno, the fact we literally manufactured a trillion dollars out of thin air and the dollar wasn't devalued? Can you cite any other nation doing similar with similar results? The mere SUGGESTION of financial instability as a result of Brexit has ruined the British pound.

*ruined is a bit strong, but it had a serious impact

When we were doing QE, everyone else was as well, so the dollar didn't fall much, but is still worth less. It was probably the right course of action, however, as it was managed well.
> US debt to GDP is not really different than other developed economies

Yes, the other developed economies which have largely given up on developing and embraced stagnation instead. It's not the greatest situation, especially if you're unfortunate enough to be young.