Why should we do their work?
This is an interesting question that I've wondered about myself. Part of the reason is that oil is pegged to the dollar. In order for countries to buy oil they have to pay for it in dollars--and that includes china.
What would bankrupt the USA in a day would be if major oil producing countries decided to peg their oil in another currency. This is something that major minor oil producers like like Iran and Venezuela are already trying to do.
"What would bankrupt the USA in a day would be if major oil producing countries decided to peg their oil in another currency. This is something that major minor oil producers like like Iran and Venezuela are already trying to do."
Actually, Iraq DID that. In 2000 they transfered their oil for food account into Euros. (Axis country #1) Iran announced it would do the same thing next. (Axis country #2). Then Korea announced it would revalue it's accounts in Euros. See where this is going? One of the reasons we're in Iraq (not the only one) is to make it an example to the rest of the world. Don't mess with our "rack up debt for free" card. When Venezuela started to consider it, the US tried to instigate a coup, and still has Venezuela on it's military radar, except that China stepped in at told us to cool it. And we don't want to mess with China for good reason. They may be "developing" but at least their economy can compete without running a petrodollar ponzai scheme.