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Who owns treasury bonds? * Foreign - $5.724 trillion (national breakdown: http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt http:

Who owns treasury bonds? * Foreign - $5.724 trillion (national breakdown: http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/ti... or http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/longterm/images/countries_largest_holdings_tres_sec_2012.png http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/longterm/images/countries_la...) * Social Security (Social Security Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) - $2.764 trillion * Federal Reserve - $1.794 trillion * Other (individuals, government-sponsored enterprises, brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts and estates, corporate and non-corporate businesses, and other investors) - $1.497 trillion. * Mutual Funds - $946.4 billion * Office of Personnel Management (Federal Employees Retirement, Life Insurance, Hospital Insurance Trust Funds, Postal Service Retiree Contributions) - $826.8 billion * State and Local Government, including their pension funds - $703.5 billion * Private Pension Funds - $457.7 billion * Military Retirement Fund - $419.5 billion * Banks - $341.4 billion * Insurance Companies - $263.3 billion * Dept. of Health and Human Services (Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund) - $260 billion * Other Federal Programs and Funds - $260 billion * Uniformed Services Retiree Health Care Fund - $189 billion * U.S. Savings Bonds - $181.7 billion * Department of Energy - $54.8 billion. * Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - $33 billion * Department of Labor (Unemployment Trust Fund) - $30 billion * Department of the Treasury (Exchange Stabilization Fund) - $26 billion

tedsanders 13y ago
Thanks for bringing some facts into the discussion. One thing I'd like to point out from your list above is that Social Security is the largest owner of treasury bonds. If the Fed buys treasury bonds from Social Security, that is essentially distributing money to lots of people directly - exactly the suggestion of this thread's article! :) (Though it's not really the same, since they buy treasury bonds in an open market, not directly from Social Security. The amount of bond-buying has nothing to do with the amount of Social Security checks going out, which is a good thing, in my opinion.)
natrius 13y ago
This doesn't refute my claim that buying treasuries disproportionately benefits the wealthy.
- nerfhammer 13y ago
  if you add up all of the taxpayer funded entities and pension funds and savings bonds I get about 48%
  - dllthomas 13y ago
    If 48% is distributed over 100% of the population, and 52% is distributed over 1% of the population, that sounds pretty disproportionate to me.
    - nerfhammer 13y ago
      If A then q does not imply if !A then !q
      - dllthomas 13y ago
        Logically true, of course, but I really don't see how you can assign A and q in any way that makes that relevant. My statement was in support of "This doesn't refute my claim that buying treasuries disproportionately benefits the wealthy.". If there's a plausible situation that's consistent with the data, for which the claim is clearly true, the data does not refute the claim (it may still be some evidence against the claim, if alternate claims are more strongly supported, but "refute" reads substantially stronger). Note that this is quite distinct from my supporting "buying treasuries disproportionately benefits the wealthy" - I am not convinced enough to hold a real opinion on that either way. Reading back further, I see the original claim was in fact "Only the wealthiest Americans (and foreigners for that matter) own the assets the Fed is bidding on", which claim the data certainly contradicts.
        nerfhammer 13y ago

tedsanders 13y ago

Thanks for bringing some facts into the discussion. One thing I'd like to point out from your list above is that Social Security is the largest owner of treasury bonds. If the Fed buys treasury bonds from Social Security, that is essentially distributing money to lots of people directly - exactly the suggestion of this thread's article! :) (Though it's not really the same, since they buy treasury bonds in an open market, not directly from Social Security. The amount of bond-buying has nothing to do with the amount of Social Security checks going out, which is a good thing, in my opinion.)

natrius 13y ago

This doesn't refute my claim that buying treasuries disproportionately benefits the wealthy.

nerfhammer 13y ago
if you add up all of the taxpayer funded entities and pension funds and savings bonds I get about 48%
- dllthomas 13y ago
  If 48% is distributed over 100% of the population, and 52% is distributed over 1% of the population, that sounds pretty disproportionate to me.
  - nerfhammer 13y ago
    If A then q does not imply if !A then !q
    - dllthomas 13y ago
      Logically true, of course, but I really don't see how you can assign A and q in any way that makes that relevant. My statement was in support of "This doesn't refute my claim that buying treasuries disproportionately benefits the wealthy.". If there's a plausible situation that's consistent with the data, for which the claim is clearly true, the data does not refute the claim (it may still be some evidence against the claim, if alternate claims are more strongly supported, but "refute" reads substantially stronger). Note that this is quite distinct from my supporting "buying treasuries disproportionately benefits the wealthy" - I am not convinced enough to hold a real opinion on that either way. Reading back further, I see the original claim was in fact "Only the wealthiest Americans (and foreigners for that matter) own the assets the Fed is bidding on", which claim the data certainly contradicts.
      - nerfhammer 13y ago