Foreign holdings of U.S. debt almost equal the entire GDP of the U.S. economy

Tuesday, May 07, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: US debt, foreign holdings, government spending

(NaturalNews) The economic destruction of America, a once-shining beacon of prosperity that has slowly, steadily been transformed into a massive debtor nation, continues unabated as now, foreign holdings of U.S. debt are nearly equal to our annual gross domestic product.

According to CNBC.com, foreign entities now hold in excess of $13 trillion in American securities - a record - even as the United States attempts to portray itself as the safest nation in a world of global economic troubles. For the record, U.S. GDP - the sum total amount of all goods and services produced in the country in a single year - is about $15.8 trillion, as of this writing.

Combined, China and Japan own more than $3.4 trillion, including $2.4 trillion in debt - a figure that has only grown since the initial data set was compiled, the financial news website reported.

Meanwhile, the total value of U.S. stocks and bonds under foreign ownership increased by 6.5 percent last year (2012), "with stocks actually rising more on a percentage basis, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Treasury," the website reported.

In a sign the U.S. government simply can't curb its habitual over-spending, foreign holdings of U.S. debt have more than doubled since 2005 and are very close to eclipsing the nation's total annual GDP.

Foreign holdings of debt rise to new heights

Per CNBC:

Of the $13.26 trillion total, $4.2 billion was held in stocks, a 10.6 percent increase from 2011. Long-term debt holdings grew to $8.2 trillion, a 6.2 percent annual rise. Holdings of short-term debt actually contracted to $811 billion, falling 7.6 percent.

Of the nearly $60 trillion of U.S. debt and equity holdings, foreign entities and nations hold about 20 percent of the total, according to U.S. Treasury Department figures. The greatest of these holdings in any class is in marketable Treasurys, which are more than half owned (52 percent) by investors outside of the United States.

The move to more U.S. assets has not been all bad for the nation. The increase came as American bond and stock markets managed to deliver decent returns for the year, despite a stubborn, slow overall economic recovery, as well as global political turmoil and other foreign issues.

Of those holding the bulk of U.S. foreign debt:

-- Japan holds the most with $1.83 trillion in American holdings, the vast majority of which are in bonds;

-- China is a close second, holding $1.59 trillion, of which $1.18 trillion was in debt - a figure that has grown to $1.22 trillion since June 30, 2012, the cutoff for the latest data sets;

-- The Cayman Islands is the third-largest holder of U.S. securities, as well as the largest overall holder of stocks, with $516 billion - likely a result of the region's status as a tax haven for American cash.

Finally, the U.S. Federal Reserve itself has been buying about $85 billion of government debt a month, "which in turn has helped provide liquidity to the equity markets," CNBC.com reported.

Economic child abuse

The government's spending insanity isn't set to end anytime soon. According to the Congressional Budget Office, not only is the economy not expected to pick up much this year (robbing the federal government of revenue), but Uncle Sam will post trillion-dollar deficits for the next decade.

"[I]f the laws that govern taxes and spending do not change, federal debt held by the public will reach 76 percent of GDP by the end of this fiscal year, the largest percentage since 1950," CBO said in a February report.

"With revenues expected to rise more rapidly than spending in the next few years under current law, the deficit is projected to dip as low as 2.4 percent of GDP by 2015," the report said. "In later years, however, projected deficits rise steadily, reaching almost 4 percent of GDP in 2023. For the 2014-2023 period, deficits in CBO's baseline projections total $7.0 trillion."

Our leaders are mortgaging our children's future. That's nothing less than economic child abuse.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100695176

http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43907

http://hotair.com