When you hear comedians start making jokes about America’s debt to China, (see Jimmy Kimmel), you pretty much know its become part of the American consciousness.
Politicians from widely opposite political spectra as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, have made it an issue in their stump speeches.
A blog by Jesse Myerson in the Salon calls such concerns that China has become America’s “banker” both “misleading and racist.”
Wrote Myerson:
…advancing the “Chinese bond holder” trope is misleading and economically meaningless, and therefore reliably results only in arousing anti-Chinese xenophobia and paranoia.
She argues that the amount of debt owed to China pales in comparison to the debt owed to the US Government itself, including the Social Security trust fund.
China, she says, is “by no means a dominant player.”
Do you agree with Myerson. Is all this emphasis on China misplaced? We’d like to hear your thoughts on this.