Who Owns America?

TL;DR

Foreigners now own $70 trillion in US assets — 87% of GDP — giving them dangerous leverage over American financial stability.

Key Points

• 1.Foreign ownership of US assets has exploded from near-zero to 87% of GDP. After the Gulf Wars and 2008 crisis, the net international investment position was only -5% to -12% of GDP, but decades of selling stocks, real estate, and treasury bonds to China, Europe, and Japan pushed it to 87%.
• 2.Foreigners hold $9.44 trillion in US Treasury bonds alone. The US sold these assets primarily to nations running trade surpluses against America, concentrating financial leverage in the hands of geopolitical rivals and trading partners.
• 3.Foreign central banks are already dumping US treasuries, pushing yields — and US debt costs — higher. Holdings at the New York Fed fell to their lowest level since 2012 in just 4 weeks, driven by oil-dependent nations needing dollars fast since oil is priced in USD, threatening America's ability to finance its nearly $40 trillion debt.