Laughter of Chinese students filled the room following Timothy Geithner’s statement that “Chinese assets are very safe,” reports the Times Online on the U.S. Treasury Secretary’s speech during his first visit to China. China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. bonds worth $768 billion.
Trade barriers with China broke down in the last couple of decades leading to a massive deficit. The country of over a billion people upon whose backs the US built the railroads, exploited for cheap labor, and exoticized in film, media, and literature now appears to have an ace in their pocket and the U.S. by the proverbial balls. That’s the real ancient Chinese secret!
Although the U.S. has the perception of China to be a third-world country their standards of living are comparable to the U.S. statistically as illustrated by the following video from Professor Hans Rosling of Gapcast.
This video covers data captured before the collapse of the U.S. economy. Notably overall infant mortality rates in the U.S. are low because of an inefficient health care system with millions who have no coverage.
Meanwhile recent studies have shown that poor Americans are the country’s most charitable demographic, according to the Philanthropy News Digest. This is particularly noteworthy because these gifts are not tax deductible because they do not earn enough money to justify deductions.
As GM files for bankruptcy and the U.S. government takes control over the sinking ship what can possibly be done to help the economy bounce back?
