By Doug Hornig, Senior Editor, Casey Research “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” said Blanche DuBois, in the final words of the play "A Streetcar Named Desire." Well, don’t we all. Many citizens probably still cling to the old saw that public debt doesn’t matter because “we owe it to ourselves.” Wrong. Debt always matters. And as for whom we owe it to, it is a lot of kind (or, at least, not yet unkind) strangers. As recently as 1970, foreign holders of U.S. debt were essentially non-existent. But their slice of our obligation pie has steadily increased, especially over the past two decades, until now foreign governments and international investors hold about 35% … [Read more...]