Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries • Hacker News Board

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#451

Post by bobthepanda » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC

epolanski wrote: post #331

kyboren wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NATO came into being to deal with the USSR, which was the preeminent threat to all NATO members. The US wasn't expected just to come save Europe; European states had real military power and the will to bring it to bear against the US's main adversary. In a conflict with the USSR, the US could rely on Europe to fight with them. Very valuable. Today, US policymakers see China as the main adversary. But European states…

> Europeans now expect America to fight Russia for them, not with them. As an European: nobody has this expectation, unless you're using some strange subreddit comment as a source of information.

This is essentially what happened in Libya when Cameron and Sarkozy badgered Obama into participating

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#452

Post by causalscience » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:20 PM UTC

drstewart wrote: post #292

causalscience wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zambia doesn't actually matter though.

Yet it's a stronger performing currency

All you're saying is "it went up more". Still irrelevant impact in the world.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#453

Post by epistasis » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:22 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #443

epistasis wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Today, US policymakers see China as the main adversary. That is not evident at all in how any US policymaker acts these days. China is stronger than ever, precisely due to US actions. Every day, the US gives up power and throws it away, and China picks it up off the ground for free. The supposed "China Hawks" are all chicken hawks without anything to back them up.

There is not one single person here. A number see China as the biggest problem and act that way. A number don't, and act that way. The combined looks like a 'chicken hawk' policy though

There is a US policy though, and none of the supposed China Hawks have even voiced a "kee-ahh" in response to US policy empowering and elevating Chinese power.

Way back in September last year, which feels like forever ago, there was this good summary from Politico:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/05/pentagon-national-d...

> Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, is leading the strategy. He played a key role in writing the 2018 version during Trump’s first term and has been a staunch supporter of a more isolationist American policy. Despite his long track record as a China hawk, Colby aligns with Vice President JD Vance on the desire to disentangle the U.S. from foreign commitments.

A supposed "China Hawk" is the one writing the policy that hands power to China! Calling them "frauds" is fully appropriate, and even though the author admits he dashed this off in a single day, I find it quite convincing:

https://secretaryrofdefenserock.substack.com/p/the-final-evo...

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#454

Post by throw0101a » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:23 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #222

throw0101a wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’m curious specifically about the people envisioning (with barely disguised glee) the US erupting into a civil war within 5 years, as they seem somewhat to have lost touch with reality. The MN governor has called up their National Guard to help local law enforcement. The Pentagon is readying troops as well, presumably to help federal officials (ICE). If both sides think they are following lawful orders, and neithe…

To note, I believe it's possible the ~1500 troops staging to Minnesota are not to assist with ICE operations, but to be air lifted via the 133rd Airlift Wing to Greenland. If interested in pursuing this, task some commercial satellite imaging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/133rd_Airlift_Wing

"Pentagon readies 1,500 troops for potential Minnesota deployment, officials say":

* https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/18/pentagon-ala...

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#455

Post by HaZeust » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:23 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #421

HaZeust wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most expensive moments in history so far

Fair, but since we can't look into the future that's an obvious thing. Every maximum is always a maximum 'so far'.

It's more of a Simpsons reference haha, sorry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpPArfDTGw

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#456

Post by youngtaff » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:25 PM UTC

adventured wrote: post #206

azinman2 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re assuming the people in charge are sane, rationale, and value past decisions that have worked out. It’s quite clear with the now likely permanent damage to NATO this isn’t the case.

You're assuming NATO is somehow critical for the US. It is not. NATO is critical for the European powers (those not named Russia). The US doesn't require it. The US doesn't need to defend Europe any longer. And it's clear the Europeans don't want the US there, so it works out great. Europe can boost its defense spending by ~$300 billion to make up the difference, or not, whatever they choose to do is up to them. The…

Borrowing money from the rest of the world is critical to the US…

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#457

Post by jonathanstrange » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:25 PM UTC

epistasis wrote: post #415

azinman2 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re assuming the people in charge are sane, rationale, and value past decisions that have worked out. It’s quite clear with the now likely permanent damage to NATO this isn’t the case.

This is precisely it. People in the US have been living with the insanity of Trump for so long that they have become numb to it, and don't realize just how crazy and out of bounds every day is now. We continue on, because we have to, but it's hard to reevaluate everything every single day because it's so crazy. Europe and the rest of the world are making completely rational decisions in response to the utter self-des…

What we witness seems to be a lack of control due to a vicious feedback loop that eliminates dissenters and reasonable, moderate people from positions of power. The longer it stays active, the worse it becomes. In other authoritarian systems this is not so noticeable because their leaders act more rationally to begin with, although they tend to lose their grip on reality in the long run, too.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#458

Post by wasabi991011 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC

fooster wrote: post #95

tomaskafka wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a rhetoric for better negotiating power against Trump. Chinese are our adversaries (EDIT: enemies, they actually bankroll Russian invasion and supply weapons) and I hope president of France understands that.

Chinese are Canadian adversaries mostly because of the US. The US more or less forced Canada to hold Meng Wanzhou, which caused a huge rise in diplomatic tensions and cost Canada billions. Some thanks we got for that.

This is definitely the biggest incident, but there's also been supposed Chinese meddling in Canadian politics and establishing foreign police stations which allegedly were threatening people in Canada.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#459

Post by youngtaff » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC

mikkupikku wrote: post #392

jacquesm wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a one sided thing. The US has been allowed to do a lot of things under the NATO umbrella that it benefited from (such as: selling a vast quantity of arms). Soft power is a thing and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization came into being to deal with exactly the kind of situation that we are viewing today. To see the US bow out, and in fact threatening allies is duplicitous at best.

NATO members aren't particularly large customers for American weapons. Poland is the largest, but is dwarfed by Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Ukraine is receiving a bunch of weapons, but that math isn't so straight forward (they're getting a ton of old stock) and they don't have much choice anyway.

Apart from Patriot, Atacms and a few other modern systems, Ukraine is basically saving the US the cost of destroying old arms

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#460

Post by BunsanSpace » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:29 PM UTC

StephenHerlihyy wrote: post #442

g_delgado14 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A new civil war that drives the US to fragment into several independent regions over the course of the next ~five years would kind of be the best scenario from a global perspective. The US isn't going to passively give up its hold on the world order. You don't think this would trigger a world war? And if / when the US does topple (whether in 10 years or in 1000 years), at the moment it looks like the only viable ne…

The opposition to American hegemony shifted from Europe (ie the USSR) to Asia (ie China). To that end, NATO lacks the capacity to meaningfully impact a conflict in the Pacific. The EU simply does not have the means to project power in that way nor do they have the ability to meaningfully implement economic policies that would effectively reduce Chinese growth. Trump is an asshole, but the strategy hasn’t really chang…

> The truth is though that Europe is dead weight. Their economy is anemic, their still too fragmented militarily

What an incredibly ignorant statement. Europe's economy in real terms is doing fine, their productivity is growing. The US's economy only looks good on paper, but outside of the AI bubble, companies aren't growing wages are stagnant with inflation.

Europe is also on the verge of federalization. But you have to understand getting over two dozen countries with vastly different cultures, histories and languages to cooperate is a gargantuan task. One the EU has been incredibly successful at.