I think globalization tends to be underemphasized in the US when we get into discussions of aggregate demand.  The US is largely dependent on domestic consumption on the demand side (~70% of GDP, give or take a bit), and so falling domestic wages -- whether from outsourcing, union-busting, a non-indexed minimum wage, and any other cause easily attributable to rent-seeking -- can have an extremely harsh impact on the state of workers, and thus aggregate demand, here.

The goods are still there.  The income needed to support consumption is not.  The only way to bridge the gap, then, is borrowing.  And here were are.

That's a pretty big simplification, of course, and I probably didn't express it clearly enough, but I think there's a good bit of merit to it.

The policy implications, then, are fairly clear.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.