THE AMERICAN DEBT MACHINE

THE AMERICAN DEBT MACHINE
More than $40 trillion in debt. Behind that extraordinary figure lies a financial machine that affects the United States, global markets and the international monetary system.
How did America reach this level of public debt? Who finances the United States? Who owns U.S. Treasury securities? Why are China and Japan important? How much does the debt cost in interest? And what could happen if investors begin demanding higher yields?
This book examines the machinery behind American debt: federal deficits, Treasury securities, refinancing, interest costs, Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and the role of the dollar.
Particular attention is given to China and Japan, major foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities, and to the gradual diversification of international reserves.
At the center of the analysis is the U.S. dollar, the world's dominant reserve currency. Its position depends not only on the strength of the American economy, but also on confidence in U.S. institutions, financial markets and the government's ability to manage its debt.
The book also examines one of the most important risks facing the system: a sustained rise in Treasury yields. Higher borrowing costs do not automatically mean a financial crisis, but when debt is measured in tens of trillions of dollars, even relatively small changes in interest rates can have major consequences.
From Washington to Wall Street, from the Federal Reserve to the dollar, and from China and Japan to Europe, THE AMERICAN DEBT MACHINE explores why America's debt is not merely an American problem.
It is one of the defining economic and geopolitical questions of our time.
$40 TRILLION AND COUNTING.
The question is not simply how much debt America can accumulate.
The question is how much it will cost to keep financing it.