Only, this time, it's completely different. We were not absolutely tied to the hip of the Soviet economy as we are now with China's. Furthermore, the Soviet's didn't own our debt like the Chinese do. It's a different ball game and not quite as clear as before.
“this time, it’s completely different. We were not absolutely tied to the hip of the Soviet economy as we are now with China’s. Furthermore, the Soviet’s didn’t own our debt like the Chinese do.”
True it is different, and the communist Chinese have been given advantages that the Soviets were not. They have a lot more money, and lot more people.
But they have weaknesses as well. The Soviets depended on oil exports, and were dependent on grain imports. The Chinese are highly dependent on manufactured products export, and raw materials/energy imports.
The Chinese hold about 1/15th of our outstanding Treasuries, a fraction of what the Federal Reserve does. China must use Treasuries to settle their trade shipment transactions. If they sold them all, they could spike the market in Treasuries in the short term - but it would shut down the core of their economy (and they would be selling their assets at fire sale prices). The Federal Reserve could buy up whatever they sold, with a book keeping adjustment.