I know there are conflicting views on how much of an actual crisis the national debt is to us in the US. Looking for a clear way of understanding how the whole global trade, borrowing money through bonds works. Please don’t use this to soapbox your opinion, just need an explanation of the processes.
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The US doesn’t “sell bonds abroad,” it sells them on the open market and whoever shows up can buy. In other words, the US Treasury doesn’t go to Saudi Arabia or China and say, “Hey, wanna lend us some money?” It’s more like, the US goes to the market and goes, “Here’s some bonds. Who wants to buy?” and Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund and China go, “Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!”
Edit: There’s also a secondary market. Let’s say Blackrock has more bonds than it wants, it can go to the market and say China can go, “ooo, I’ll take that off your hands.”
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