Chinese officials are showing signs of nervousness about all the money they've loaned the U.S. government. Could it be that they know something?

The Magic Circle—Broken

As federal deficits grow and grow,
And build like dental plaque,
Some say: "We can’t finance this game,
Without a later whack.
Such games have nasty endings,
They lead to default’s door,
We’ll reach our borrow limits,
And then we’ll all be poor."

Until now 'twas Chinese lenders
That sustained us with their cash.
Providing us a painless way
To fund our debtor bash.
We thought we'd tapped the perfect source
A self-renewing hoard;
No need to crimp our borrowings
With such good friends abroad.

What made these inflows possible?
Our mall-based shopping spree.
Our plastic rich consumers
With their spending were most free.
The more imported goods we bought
The more dollars went offshore,
Until those Chinese coffers
Simply could not hold no more.

For want of better parking place
This money then flowed back,
Into U.S. treasuries replacing
Revenues we lack.
'Twas a kind of magic circle,
More we spent, the more they lent
Endless wants of shoppers subsidized
Our cash strapped government.

While this circle stayed unbroken
No one wished its links to sever. 
Both Americans and Chinese
Thought they were extremely clever.
But we've cut back on our shopping 
And our borrow needs have soared
Now our Chinese lender's thinking:
Are my loans that well secured?

******

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