Will global demand for risk-free debt remain so strong?
Strong global demand for risk-free debt entails important consequences: Low long-term interest rates on risk-free bonds (United States, core euro-zone countries, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Sweden, etc.); The countries that issue risk-free bonds are able to easily finance large external deficits; this is the case in particular of the United States and the United Kingdom. So is there a risk that global demand for risk-free debt will decline? The global private savings rate is very high, which supports demand for risk-free bonds ; Could demand for some OECD countries’ bonds decline for geopolitical reasons? Could the trend in public finances strip some countries of their risk-free debt status?