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German bond yields are currently negative. That means that you pay them more than $100 for every $100 you get back. See https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates

• whatshisface 7y ago
  There is actually an important detail here: that's €101, not $101. If you want to transact in dollars there would be no reason not to deal with the US Treasury which is even safer than the German government (Germany can't print Euros to fulfill its debt obligations).
  • chadash 7y ago
    Fine, so take Japan who also has negative yields on short term bonds and can print their own currency. And the US Treasury can print money, but it's got it's own issues with a congress who occasionally has members who grandstand and threaten to default on debts. Meanwhile, Germany runs a surplus budget. I'm not saying that US Bonds aren't extremely safe, but it's hard to know if German bonds are really less safe. The market seems to consider them extremely safe. The biggest risk with German bonds for a buyer who transacts in dollars is currency fluctuation But I agree with your sentiment with regard to the original comment you responded to (which seems to have been edited now).
    • treis 7y ago
      >hard to know if German bonds are really less safe It's more of a currency based risk. You're probably right that Germany is as safe of a bet (if not more) to pay back their bonds than the US is. The question is how much 100 Euro is going to be worth in 10 year.