Should “safe†countries take advantage of the strong global demand for risk-free bonds?
There is strong global demand for government bonds assumed to be risk-free (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, core euro-zone countries, Sweden, Japan, Australia). These countries could take advantage of this demand by running much higher fiscal deficits. Indeed, the United States, France and Japan are doing this, but the other countries are not. Which group of countries is right? The countries that are taking advantage of the strong global demand for risk-free bonds: Are assuming that there will always be excess demand for risk-free bonds; Are assuming that monetary policies are not going to become more restrictive; Should be careful to retain their status as countries with risk-free debt .