Foreign debt
Worrisome, but keep it in persepective.
Until the 1970s, Bartlett explains, foreigners owned less than 5 percent of our debt. Today, they own roughly 50 percent. That share is increasing as we can see in this chart.
Second, the Chinese own less of our debt than you may think. According to the Treasury Department, they own $894 billion out of the $3.6 trillion owned by foreigners. Bartlett argues that Chinese ownership is likely understated and is probably over $1 trillion.