JakeS:

The transnats who plan ahead will attempt to capture tangible assets, rather than leave their fortunes in paper money, because when the music stops, the value of paper money will be a matter of political negotiation.

If the music really stops, then even the ownership of tangible assets will be a matter of political negotiations. As Chris likes to point out, property is a relationship, not an object. It ceases to be yours the moment force is no longer applied on your behalf to maintain exclusive rights. For this reason, if I where the Chinese lending money to the US, I would not be all too comfortable owning physical assets in the US either.