No sooner did this strategy pay off with a narrow re-election victory – one that strengthened Republican control of Congress – than the dark realities of Bush’s fiscal recklessness started to be recognized. The annual US budget deficit reached 5% of GNP, with an enormous part of the gap financed each year by Asian central banks, which now hold about $2 trillion in claims against America.
这个策略刚为布什赢得再次当选的胜利——这场险胜巩固了共和党对国会的控制——后不久，人们就开始认识到布什在财政上不计后果的作法。美国每年的预算赤字达到GNP的5%，而且差额中有很大一部分来自亚洲各国的中央银行。这些央行目前已经持有2万亿美元的美国国债。