By the end of QE2 this chart is going to look very different - that pretty red bar is going to be about 65% higher by next June, dwarfing our Asian friends in slots #2, and #3. Anyhow who wants our largest holder of debt to be someone who "hates us guys"! [Feb 13, 2009: FT.com - China to U.S. "We Hate You Guys"] Much better for our top creditor to be a benevolent unelected overlord who can act in seemingly unchecked manner.
- ... the Fed's official holdings of US Treasury securities now amount to $891.3 billion, which is higher than the second largest holder of US debt: China, which as of September 30 held $884 billion, and Japan, with $864 billion.
- The purists will claim that the TIC data is as of September 30, and that as the weekly custodial account shows UST buying continues the data is likely not correct. They will be wrong: with the Fed now buying about $30 billion per week, or about $120 billion per month, for the foreseeable future and beyond, it would mean that China would need to buy a comparable amount to be in the standing. It won't.
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