Jin10 just posted a pretty interesting chart! Foreign investors' holdings of U.S. assets have risen to about $39 trillion, hitting a record high. Out of that, nearly $20 trillion has flowed into the U.S. stock market. I went and checked some related data. As of Q1 2026: - U.S. external assets: $43.37 trillion - Foreign holdings of U.S. assets: $64.64 trillion - Net international investment position: -$21.27 trillion In other words, the U.S. owes the world $21 trillion. If this were any other ordinary debtor nation, that number would scare people to death. But not the U.S. The U.S. can use asset price fluctuations to make creditors bear the burden of external adjustments. For example, foreigners currently hold nearly $20 trillion in U.S. stocks. If U.S. stocks were to drop 20% across the board, assuming all other conditions remain unchanged, foreigners would see a $4 trillion loss on paper. The U.S. wouldn’t need to export $4 trillion worth of goods, wouldn’t need a $4 trillion fiscal surplus, and wouldn’t need to pay anyone $4 trillion in cash. The market value of its external liabilities would naturally shrink. So, flipping the question around makes it even more interesting: If the world already has $64 trillion worth of assets tied up in the U.S., who’s really more afraid of a collapse in U.S. assets? This is an insanely twisted mechanism of capital self-reinforcement—a reflexive capital cycle that ultimately benefits U.S. stocks in the long run! #Finance #Investing #USStocks #GlobalEconomy