4 ms·
never going to be paid back Many investors in government bonds don’t want to be paid back. They just want interest payments forever. So the rating is really ju
by gaius 8y ago
never going to be paid back
Many investors in government bonds don’t want to be paid back. They just want interest payments forever. So the rating is really just about the confidence that it will happen.
I was chatting to a guy from Sybase once who had written some special date-handling code at the request of a customer who was still handling payment streams from the time of Napoleon.
- codeisawesome 8y agoNapoléon was first emperor in 1804 - if it was from then, we’re talking 214 year old debt - fascinating!
- OldHand2018 8y ago> Napoléon was first emperor in 1804 - if it was from then, we’re talking 214 year old debt - fascinating! The UK issued perpetual bonds starting in 1751. They were called Consol Bonds, but they were all redeemed in 2015. The US has historically issued Consol bonds with the right of redemption. The last mention of Consol bonds I can find is the June 1935 Treasury report [1] so presumably that's when they were fully redeemed. [1]https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/pre1997/pre1997_1935.htm https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/pre1997/...
- spiralx 8y agoHere's one :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSIC8jwbQs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSIC8jwbQs