China’s Investments in U.S. Benefit Both Countries

U-T San Diego -- Mark Riedy, Ph.D., is executive director of the University of San Diego’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate.

Many Americans are deeply concerned about China’s government and central bank owning more than $1 trillion of the United States’ national debt. These concerns span the media spectrum from newspapers to blogs to TV networks and generate a visceral response among commentators and consumers alike. Yet these reactions are more political and emotional than based on sound analysis. Before we assume that China’s U.S. debt holdings are a bad thing, we need to take a look at the hard economics behind it.

Why do the central government and central bank of China invest so heavily in America’s national debt? (Full Story)