During this period of globalization, a symbiotic relationship developed between China and the US in which the Chinese manufactured consumer goods in an extremely cost-effective way and loaned the US money to buy them. It was a hell of a “buy now, pay later” deal for the Americans, and the Chinese liked it because they built their savings in the world’s reserve currency. It struck me as odd that the Chinese, who were earning about a 40th of Americans on average, would be lending money to Americans, since rich people are in a better position to lend than poor ones. To
