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I do not think this is factually wrong. You can't pull single statistics to tell the whole story and you're probably going to be wrong if you try it. For exam

I do not think this is factually wrong. You can't pull single statistics to tell the whole story and you're probably going to be wrong if you try it. For example, a surplus can appear in the form of the average citizen holding US bonds. Large foreign reserves, stuff like that. The US, for example, doesn't have to have it's deficit show in government debt. It could be held by citizens or the states or so on. It just so happens that in this case, it does, because the government is taking on a burden the citizens would reject and averting (temporarily) an economic disaster. China has a massive trade surplus. It has not had a trade deficit in years, and that must show in its pocketbook.

NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
>You can't pull single statistics to tell the whole story and you're probably going to be wrong if you try it. I really can. If your premise is that the US has to run a government deficit because China runs a government surplus then the fact that the Chinese government doesn't run a surplus really sinks the whole line of thought. Again: government spending is not the same thing as the balance of trade. Japan runs a huge current account surplus, but has the highest ratio of government debt to GDP in the world.
- bioemerl 4y ago
  The US has to have debt in some form. We chose for it to be in government debt because that's the least harmful place for it. It is a problem not because it's government debt, it's a problem because of the lost jobs. It's a problem because of our dependence on China for goods. It's a problem because it's inherently unsustainable debt no matter what form it takes.