Average American Owes Average Chinese $4000

This is really an astonishing number. From James Fallows' new essay, "The $1.4 Trillion Question:"

Through the quarter-century in which China has been opening to world trade, Chinese leaders have deliberately held down living standards for their own people and propped them up in the United States. This is the real meaning of the vast trade surplus—$1.4 trillion and counting, going up by about $1 billion per day—that the Chinese government has mostly parked in U.S. Treasury notes. In effect, every person in the (rich) United States has over the past 10 years or so borrowed about $4,000 from someone in the (poor) People’s Republic of China.

Based on 2006 per capita GDP numbers that means we've sucked almost 23% per year from the average Chinese earner's income.

Can you imagine what you'd do if someone was borrowing 22% of your income a year and forcing you to endure a lower standard of living in the process? You'd be rather unhappy, no?

Sean Paul Kelley January 11, 2008 - 2:38pm

Sean Paul Kelley's diary | printer friendly version |

( categories: Analysis | China | Economics: USA )

What's your plan?

China has a monstrous-size population...millions beneffited from globalization. Basically China remains an agrarian society and industralization needs time to grow...it's doing everything in its power to modernize its economy. Until China does modernize, American and western countries profit from their labours, but when they truly become a first-world country, their standard of living will meet or exceed standards in the countries that previously profitted.

The UK dominated the world for a very long time, but other countries overcame the disparity. One hand washes the other and continues to do so in less developed countries. Globalization shrank the world. People are moving from one country to another and in some instances working in one country and maintaining homes in another.

canuck January 11, 2008 - 3:17pm

math is flawed

It's more correct to say the average American owes $4000 to China, or $1000 to four separate Chinese people.

--
http://bexhuff.com
Of COURSE you can trust the US Government! Just ask the Indians.

bex January 11, 2008 - 10:07pm

How is it that you get four seperate people? I'll buy the

comment about $4000 being owed to China, in a vague sort of way, but four separate people?

^{“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski}

Sean Paul Kelley January 12, 2008 - 5:19pm

Simple multiplication, my good man

300 million * 4 = 1.2 billion people

_{"Vanity, Vanity, all is Vanity."}

Raja January 12, 2008 - 5:33pm

Not to put too fine a point on it, S-P

But that's pretty close to what the average American worker pays on taxes for the defense budget. At least China gets an industrialized base and an infrastructure from their policies.

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” - George W. Bush

Petronius January 11, 2008 - 3:28pm

But thuout history

China has always been the richest country of the planet, only to loose when they where kinda colonized by the europeans and japanese.
But that situation could nt endure. Since China is a very "patient" country it can afford to wait a generation or two before it assimilates whatever come's at it.
Bet you it won,t be too long before they start collecting the borrower and regain their economic historical status.
Further more the chineese government know all but to well that if it tries to reach the same level of consumption as the west, it,s the end of China "and the world". So they invest in knowledge and now as the rich countries can do start to think in greener environmental terms, they will be ready when the new economy kick,s in, then they'll show their stuff.

Jelco Cathlon January 11, 2008 - 3:36pm

Hmmm...

Can you imagine what you'd do if someone was borrowing 22% of your income a year and forcing you to endure a lower standard of living in the process?

Sounds like my relationship with my three teenage daughters.

“I despise ideologues masquerading as objective journalists.” - Bill O'Reilly, March 30, 2007

Mark January 11, 2008 - 4:42pm

nyuck nyuck nyuck

Are their IOUs any good?

Forget it, Jake - it's AmnesiaTown

Tonsure Wimple January 12, 2008 - 5:05am

LOL

Chickadee January 12, 2008 - 7:39pm

Actually, when I read that I

Actually, when I read that I was tempted to offer a link to the IRS. But they don't borrow it, they take it. And 22% would be quite frugal for them.

zot23 January 11, 2008 - 5:24pm

They

owe me for everything I bought that broke. Pissonem.

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

mauberly January 11, 2008 - 9:05pm

Deficits, the National Debt?

Perot, where the hell are you when we need you? When you ran for president the National Debt was less than half of what it is today.

shergald January 11, 2008 - 9:22pm

I love these left wing

I love these left wing types and their apparent blindness to reality.
Former President Carter is somehow a hero to be trotted around and held up as an idol when it is the liking of the views of these types.
The left wing somewhow tried to believe that it is open minded - when it is open minded only to its views and completly intolerant of any other views.
Carter is the one who negotiated in good faith with North Korea - what happened - North Korea not only has starved its people, has nukes , exports nuclear technology as well as ballistic missile technology to the most unstable places and worse regimes.
Not one word of that - of Carter's mistakes.
Or that it could be well argued that a fair bit of the current problems of iran go back to Carter's own involvment with the Shaw , the dropping of the Shaw , and his ridicule by the Immans.
Not one word.
Amy Goodmann is all their hero - not a word .
It would be fun to watch if Mexico started shelling California how long these people would stand by without asking for quick and direct action against the Mexicans.

rudy1luther January 13, 2008 - 10:26pm

The Shah...

...was not a Shaw. Do you know who Mossadegh was?

North Korea has been starving its people from the days of Truman. They import nuclear technology, and still can't get it to work.

Please, hold your breath until Mexico begins their bombardment.

Gordon January 13, 2008 - 10:39pm

"Do you know who Mossadegh was?"

I didn't either until checking out WIKI

How really, really interesting.

Chickadee January 14, 2008 - 8:50pm

Yahooo.

"I love these left wing types and their apparent blindness to reality."
but boy, they sure can spell!

(I'm not meaning to be rude, rudy, but once you've been around here more than 18 hours, you may discover that posters here are a wee bit sticky when it comes to facts. Heads up on that.)

Chickadee January 14, 2008 - 5:00pm

Chinese are patient strategists

4000 dollars owed to Chinese people each, does not mean anything rather than our government should feel disgraced to our Chinese people. the west profit on the developing countries, that 's very true.

uker January 13, 2008 - 2:54pm

Can you imagine what you'd

Can you imagine what you'd do if someone was borrowing 22% of your income a year and forcing you to endure a lower standard of living in the process?

Yes, but as an American, I WISH my tax rate was just 23%.

wdr1 January 13, 2008 - 3:33pm

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Average American Owes Average Chinese $4000

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