Keith Bradsher reports on Chinese currency manipulation in the NY Times:

Some Chinese economists gingerly suggested in the past year that China could find better uses for the hundreds of billions of dollars it spends buying United States Treasuries and other foreign securities to keep the renminbi from rising against the dollar.

That investment in overseas bonds was equal to nearly a tenth of China’s entire economic output last year, even though Treasuries have a return of only 0.13 to 4.76 percent currently.

That 10% could become more consumption for the Chinese people or more investment - including investments to convert the economy from its dependence on coal. This sort of wholesale looting of a nation by its leaders has not happened since Stalin exported most of Russia and Ukraine's grain crops in the 1930's.

At least Stalin got machinery and factories. China's leaders are just buying paper.

If they can't think of a productive use for this 10% of output they should just stop pretending to be leaders.