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The US government has other "loyalty programs", for example if you buy a 10 year treasury bond instead of holding cash, they'll pay out a bonus every six months

by DougBTX 10y ago

The US government has other "loyalty programs", for example if you buy a 10 year treasury bond instead of holding cash, they'll pay out a bonus every six months. Another way to look at it is return on investment vs risk vs liquidity. Since inflation is 0-2%, cash is worth less every year, but it is easy to buy things with it. So if you have lots of cash coming in, choosing where to store it gets more tricky: http://www.asymco.com/2012/01/24/apple-added-38-billion-in-cash-last-year/ http://www.asymco.com/2012/01/24/apple-added-38-billion-in-c...

logicallee 10y ago
Yes, the treasury bond you mention is an example of a "loyalty program" or its "points" in the sense I mention. However what percentage of the population buys treasury bonds? (Serious questions). Most users simply do not have any special rewards by the government for particular use of their points. Being able to withhold something from taxes is one of the major ways that the government incentivizes certain spending, and it works. But to be very clear, I am specifically talking about "ribbons" and plaques and non-monetary types of acknowledgment that the U.S. Government could give in exchange for certain uses of its points, i.e. certain specific uses or accumulation of its cash. Acknowledgments that have no monetary value. So in this sense the Government doesn't do much. Do they even send you a "thank you" letter if you buy a 10-year treasury bond? This is what I'm talking about. Entirely non-monetary things that only exist in the realm of points and acknowledgment -- not things with actual true monetary value. This is a powerful train of thought that is unexplored entirely.
- WrtCdEvrydy 10y ago
  > However what percentage of the population buys treasury bonds? (Serious questions) Basically, if you invest in any ETF or 401k with "government bonds" (including Acorns), you are holding treasury bonds. The top holder by far is U.S. citizens and American entities, such as state and local governments, pension funds, mutual funds, and the Federal Reserve. Together they own the vast majority -- 67.5% -- of the debt. Foreign nations only hold 32.5% of the total. Source: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/news/economy/us-debt-ownership/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/news/economy/us-debt-ownersh...

by DougBTX 10y ago

logicallee 10y ago

Yes, the treasury bond you mention is an example of a "loyalty program" or its "points" in the sense I mention. However what percentage of the population buys treasury bonds? (Serious questions). Most users simply do not have any special rewards by the government for particular use of their points. Being able to withhold something from taxes is one of the major ways that the government incentivizes certain spending, and it works. But to be very clear, I am specifically talking about "ribbons" and plaques and non-monetary types of acknowledgment that the U.S. Government could give in exchange for certain uses of its points, i.e. certain specific uses or accumulation of its cash. Acknowledgments that have no monetary value. So in this sense the Government doesn't do much. Do they even send you a "thank you" letter if you buy a 10-year treasury bond? This is what I'm talking about. Entirely non-monetary things that only exist in the realm of points and acknowledgment -- not things with actual true monetary value. This is a powerful train of thought that is unexplored entirely.

WrtCdEvrydy 10y ago
> However what percentage of the population buys treasury bonds? (Serious questions) Basically, if you invest in any ETF or 401k with "government bonds" (including Acorns), you are holding treasury bonds. The top holder by far is U.S. citizens and American entities, such as state and local governments, pension funds, mutual funds, and the Federal Reserve. Together they own the vast majority -- 67.5% -- of the debt. Foreign nations only hold 32.5% of the total. Source: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/news/economy/us-debt-ownership/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/news/economy/us-debt-ownersh...