treasury securities

What if foreigners quit lending the US so much money?

Posted 12 weeks 3 days ago by Philip Brewer

One of the bugaboos of the financial doom-and-gloom crowd is the worry that foreigners (China in particular, but also oil exporting countries in the Middle-East, and others) might quit buying so many US Treasury securities. If that happened, they say, the value of the dollar would plummet, interest rates would soar, and the US economy would be in terrible trouble. I say: Bring it on!

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Savers suffering as rates fall--what to do

Posted 13 weeks 14 hours ago by Philip Brewer

Investment

Federal funds rate and savings interest rates both drop

Interest rates for ordinary savers held up pretty well after the first Fed rate cut in July last year. There was a simple reason--banks needed the money. With the credit squeeze making it tough for banks to raise cash, the last thing they wanted was for savers to draw their money out in search of higher returns. The Fed's efforts to relieve the squeeze have been somewhat successful--banks have substantially cut the rates they'll pay savers.

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