How much will taxpayers shoulder?

[Zenda]

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Don't blame me for using the numbers presented by Kandrathe, please.

Ofcourse, these figures have grown. According to Wiki, China has some $1905 billion in foreign reserves (september 2008), Japan $997, and Russia $485, for example. Not all of it is US currency, though. That amount is estimated to be 65-75% of the total, worldwide (Euros is some 25%).

It is worth noting that having reserves of foreign currency is needed to cover for imports (oil mostly, for many nations), and that having large amounts of it is costly. The money is subject to inflation and would have been better used for investments.

Also worth noting is that the USA is nowhere on the list. The USA doesn't need foreign reserves, because everyone needs dollars to buy oil. This is why most reserves are in dollars instead of exotic valuta. Not because there are American goods to import, but simply because dollars will be accepted anywhere. Ofcourse, this situation might change as more oil-producing nations start using euros and local currencies instead. I'm afraid that $700 billion won't cover the damages of that process :whistling:

So, when China spents the profits of its succes on buying dollars because they have little choice and also a lot of oil to buy, they are accused of unfair monetairy manipulations. Funny, how capitalism depends on promises of wealth and luxury, but starts to break down when too many people actually earn their reward :glare: