[JumpCrisscross]

> China has over $20 trillion saved

From where did you get $20 trillion? The data I see show $3.5 trillion for the United States versus $5.4 trillion for China [1]. U.S. depository institutions hold over $9 trillion in savings [2]; this doesn't count savings held in stocks and bonds, the majority of Americans' savings.

In any case, private savings aren't really relevant to a country's credit rating. Ability and willingness to pay are. If the U.S. Treasury defaults, one can sue. If China defaults...you're just screwed.

[1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNS.ICTR.CD?location...

[2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WSAVNS

[dis-sys]

> From where did you get $20 trillion? The data I see show $3.5 trillion for the United States versus $5.4 trillion for China

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-25/with-21-t...

http://www.smh.com.au/business/china/with-28-trillion-in-sav...

> If the U.S. Treasury defaults, one can sue. If China defaults...you're just screwed.

which government got recently shutdown for its debt problems?

[JumpCrisscross]

The Sydney Morning Herald article you cite [1] measures “deposits”. The comparable figure in the United States is $12 trillion [2]. The comparison is misleading, however, since few U.S. institutions, financial or non-financial, “save” in deposit accounts. (This is true in a China, too.) All this comes down to the murky definition of “savings,” which are in the end largely irrelevant to national credit concerns since “credit” is trying to quality their probability of seizure (through default, expropriation or other means).

[1] http://www.smh.com.au/business/china/with-28-trillion-in-sav...

[2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DPSACBW027SBOG