• MuskyMelon@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Japan holds a trillion dollars of US debt in the form of bonds. If they sell the bonds, it increases the supply and lowers demand so to be more attractive the bond interest rates must increase. If the interest rates increase it means that the US must pay more towards paying down the national debt that it currently does. That means US interest rates will increase and the average American will have to pay more in loan and mortgage payments than ever, causing people to abandon homes and cars, and the value of the US dollar will crash. This will lead to a new depression.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      22 hours ago

      Good summary, only one correction:

      It will lead to an even worse Great Depression.

      Great Depression 2.0 is already unavoidable in the US, even if Japan doesn’t dump US Bonds.

      Japan (and others who would soon follow) dumping US Bonds would just pour cement over the grave we’ve already dug ourselves into.