2 ms·

Traditionally safe. The recent (past 30 or so years) unwillingness of the congress to invest that money into maintaining growth (things like infrastructure main

• watchandwait 15y ago
  Please don't just rely on the nonsense they taught you in econ 101. You need to understand the relationship between debt, the currency, interest rates, and a government's ability and willingness to repay. These factors make government debt potentially VERY risky. Even in the U.S., which is generally very responsible, government debt has been a terrible investment at times through the years. The U.S. massively devalued during the Great Depression and devalued again after World War Two. An investment in a U.S. ten-year bond in the late-1960s would have been absolutely creamed, I'm talking about losing much of the real value of your investment. That's not anyone's idea of safe.
  • mkr-hn 15y ago
    Compared to the stock market (Depression) or moving your money overseas (WW2)? It seems like the US was still the best of what was available at the time. Gold and commodities would have been toast in an invasion (the axis invading the US) or collapse of society (French Revolution-style uprising). Giving the government all your money to keep it afloat in those situations was still superior, even if the government ended up ruining the value.