Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

ask ian

Ian Bremmer takes a look at the week's top stories in geopolitics.

Presented by

sponsor_image

China and US economic interdependence hasn't lessened

Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week with a look at the China-US economic relationship, North Korea's missiles tests, and the New York Times' investigation of the US drone strike in Afghanistan.

China owns more than $1 trillion US debt, but how much leverage do they actually have?

I mean, the leverage is mutual and it comes from the enormous interdependence in the economic relationship of the United States and China. And it's about debt. And it's about trade. It's about tourism. It's about sort of mutual investment. Now. There is some decoupling happening in terms of labor, increasingly moving domestic in terms of the China five-year plan, dual circulation focusing more on domestic economy, and in terms of data systems breaking up, the internet of things, being Chinese or American, but not both. And indebtedness is part of that. But I don't see that unwinding anytime soon. And certainly, the Chinese knows if they're going to get rid of a whole bunch of American debt, they wouldn't be as diversified in global portfolio. Not as great, it's much riskier. And also, the price of those holdings, as they start selling them down would go down. So, I don't think there's a lot of leverage there, frankly. I think the leverage is interdependent.

Keep reading...Show less

More from ask ian

GZERO Series

Kim Jong Un's winning nuclear bet

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer
Trump gets a "big, fat" concession from Xi

Puppet Regime

Puppet Regime
Iran war ceasefire holds … for now | Quick Take

Quick Take

Quick Take
China plays the long game, Cuba faces mounting US pressure

ask ian

ask ian
North Korea's nuclear bet paid off

Ian Explains

Ian Explains
What spies can teach us about persuasion

GZERO Reports

GZERO Reports
How the Iran war is affecting Europe’s economy

GZERO Europe

GZERO Europe
Hormuz standoff: Who blinks first?

The Debrief

The Debrief