Paul Krugman: Who's Afraid of China?

The Slate commentator Matthew Yglesias recently noted an uptick in warnings from Very Serious People that China might lose confidence in America and start dumping our bonds. In an article published earlier this month, he focuses on China's motives, which is useful.

But the crucial point, which Mr. Yglesias touches on only briefly at the end, is that whatever China's motives, the Chinese wouldn't hurt us if they dumped our bonds - in fact, it would probably be good for the United States.