The Federal Reserve publishes these figures in one of its weekly reports -- tucked away in a little footnote where they won't scare the children so much. Essentially, it shows to what degree foreign governments -- mostly Asian -- are propping up U.S. bonds and the dollar by accumulating ever more massive quantities of both. There's a longer explanation here.
The most recent numbers were released yesterday. What's striking about them is the fact that total foreign central bank holdings and the annual rate of growth of those holdings are both still rising at a ferocious pace.
Over the past year, foreign central banks have purchased $252 billion -- a quarter trillion dollars -- in U.S. securities, most of them (77%) U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds. Which means, by my rough estimate, that foreign governments (primarily Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea) have met virtually all of the Treasury's borrowing needs over the past 12 months, and have financed about half of the even more gargantuan U.S. current account deficit during that same period.
...The Journal story includes a very impressive chart showing what share of the total U.S. national debt is now in foreign hands -- a total which, based on the Fed's figures, almost certainly has already passed the 40% mark.
Read the whole post here.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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