Presidential candidate Donald Trump and other Americans blame China for America's pile of debt and call for a tough stance on China, which is unfair and won't help the US economy, says Bill Bonner in the Christian Science Monitor on May 16.

According to the article, many Americans tend to believe what Donald Trump tells them, that China is to blame for their financial problems. "When asked what he'd do to fix the US economy, 'The Donald' says he'd 'get tough with China.'"

But "What dastardly thing are the Chinese doing? What devious, underhanded act are they committing?" asks Bonner, the newspaper's guest blogger. "An act of commerce! They're delivering quality products to America at discount prices!"

Actually, the US government's financial strategy for four decades, which encourages consumer spending and borrowing, is a calamity and surely leads to poverty, says Bonner. "Everyone who has thought about it for more than a second realizes that the secret to gaining wealth is to make money…save it…and invest it in new and more productive business opportunities."

Instead of boosting real economic growth in the US, the strategy did wonders for China. In the 32 years since Deng Xiaoping opened up China, the Chinese have pulled off a miracle, China has gone from a Third World country to the world's No 2 economy with a shocking growth rate. "China is supposed to be a poor country. But there is no evidence of it so far. Instead, there are automobiles, highways, skyscrapers – as far as the eye can see. Factories by the thousands. Warehouses. Docks and freight yards. Plants. Mills. Apartment blocks that New York would be proud of. Office towers that Baltimore would envy. Trains. Loading platforms. Bridges. Storage yards. Assembly units. Round buildings. Square buildings. Rectangles. Ovals. Low rise. High rise."

Bonner believes that the secret is that China is a zombie-free zone with smart and hardworking people. "Instead of borrowing to boost their standards of living, the Chinese save their money in order to reduce their standard of living…boost the next generation's."

While the Fed encouraged Americans to buy things they didn't need with money they didn't have, the Chinese merely took the order and the money, says Bonner. "Now they have the biggest stash of dollars in the world, while the US has the biggest, stinkiest pile of debt the world has ever seen."