Tag: Treasury bonds
The total debt of the U.S. government has increased from $5.7 trillion to $33.1 trillion over the past 22 years and keeps growing. The U.S. Treasury explains: “Simply put, the national debt is similar to a person using a credit card for purchases and not paying off the full balance each month. The cost of purchases exceeding the amount paid off represents a deficit, while accumulated deficits over time represents a person’s overall debt.” It fails to add that an average person is not allowed to print their own money…
Now that we’re post-FOMC and ECB we have a clear playing field for another 6 weeks. The US debt ceiling theater is now center-stage along with completing the transition away from LIBOR, which will become an anachronism at the end of Q2.
The United States has the largest external debt in the world; the total number of U.S. Treasury securities held by foreign countries in January 2022 was $7.74 trillion, up from $6.63 trillion in June 2019. This infographic shows the 30 countries that hold 90% of the U.S. T-bills.
This month marks fifty years since President Richard Nixon closed the “gold window” that had allowed foreign governments to exchange US dollars for gold. Nixon’s action severed the last link between the dollar and gold, transforming the dollar into pure fiat currency.
