Asia Rethinks American Investments Amid Market Upheaval - NYTimes.com

Uh-oh. No more credit from Asia? Even a slowdown is very bad news for the economy. They have been buying U.S. Bonds, bankrolling U.S. debt so we could buy houses and consumer crap from Asia. If they slow the funds, price of debt goes up (hello credit crunch, oh -- we already have one of those), consumer hibernate, they don't get to sell as much stuff to us. Asian economies slow, then they buy even less U.S. debt. This does not end well, especially for the U.S.