Who Does America Owe?

As the far right republicans and the powerless Democrats drag us all toward another meltdown of the monetary system here’s a quick and fascinating breakdown by total amount held and percentage of total U.S. debt, according to Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/who-owns-us-debt-2011-7

• Hong Kong: $121.9 billion (0.9%)
• Caribbean banking centers: $148.3 (1%)
• Taiwan: $153.4 billion (1.1%)
• Brazil: $211.4 billion (1.5%)
• Oil exporting countries: $229.8 billion (1.6%)
• Mutual funds: $300.5 billion (2%)
• Commercial banks: $301.8 billion (2.1%)
• State, local and federal pension funds: $320.9 billion (2.2%)
• Money market mutual funds: $337.7 billion (2.4%)
• United Kingdom: $346.5 billion (2.4%)
• Private pension funds: $504.7 billion (3.5%)
• State and local governments: $506.1 billion (3.5%)
• Japan: $912.4 billion (6.4%)
• U.S. households: $959.4 billion (6.6%)this includes Hedge funds
• China: $1.16 trillion (8%)
• The U.S. Treasury: $1.63 trillion (11.3%) the quantitative easing recently undertaken
• Social Security trust fund: $2.67 trillion (19%)

So the US government owes folk outside America about $4.5 trillion, some to our pension funds of course. But America owes Americans $9.8 trillion. So the default will be on us. It highlights the strange nature of our affairs, that we lend money to governments when they could print it themselves!