[Moonman62]

How can you blame Clinton for the high level of debt that existed when he took office? Likewise, how can you credit Bush for the less debt (as a percent of GDP) that existed when he took office? The answer, of course, is that you can't.

Politics is the art of blaming everything bad on your opponent.

I was wondering if you have any explanation for long term bond yields being so low. Greenspan seems to be stumped.

[fooman]

LT interest rates are low because are real negotiable debt is only a little over 4 Trillion. This is a much smaller % of our GDP than the average Euro country. So Japan, UK and carribian banks all have a ton invested in treasuries and we just dont make many of them.

[remember]

Politics is the art of blaming everything bad on your opponent.

I was wondering if you have any explanation for long term bond yields being so low. Greenspan seems to be stumped.

No, I have no explanation. I have read some theories on the matter such as in the comments by Bill Gross at http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/18/markets/bondcenter/gross_outlook/. I do think that in order to come up with an explanation, it would help to have a better understanding of those who buy long term bonds. I don't own any long bonds, having heard for years about the risks of holding them, especially when interest rates are expected to rise. Nor do I know anyone who owns them. Hence, the precise motivations of long bond traders are a bit of a mystery to me.