On: The $1.4 Trillion Question (What will China do with their massive US dollar holdings?)

"In effect, every person in the (rich) United States has over the past 10 years or so borrowed about $4,000 from someone in the (poor) People's Republic of China."

Uh, no. I get the feeling that the author doesn't really understand how trade surpluses and deficits work.

Why do you disagree with that statement? If China has lent $1.4 trillion to the US Government (by buying US Treasury Notes), then if you divide it out on a per capita basis, that works out to roughly $4000 per US citizen.

You mean China _LENT_ $1.4 trillion to the US Government (by buying US Treasury Notes).

Oops. Thanks for catching this. Maybe I shouldn't debate late at night...

(I fixed my post above so that it actually says the point I was trying to make, rather than the opposite.)