Who are we borrowing all this money off year after year, and at what price?
I am not just talking about interest rates, but also any unusual demands. Are we being funded by the Arabs and are they demanding mass muslim immigration into Europe, in exchange for the cash?
Government bonds which are usually bought by pension funds, investment funds, other financial institutions and, to a lesser extent, private individuals.
Government bonds which are usually bought by pension funds, investment funds, other financial institutions and, to a lesser extent, private individuals.
It's Insurance Companies, Pension Funds, Overseas, Banks, and other financial institutions all holding a fair bit each. None clearly dominant. Overseas ones on the rise. I'm guessing macarony wants a break down of those Overseas owners of debt, Arab sov wealth funds, Chinese central and municipal banks, that sort of thing. Sorry, haven't got it.
What does it cost investors - about 1.5-1.6% for a 10 year gilt. Why are they investing at bad value when many shares pay 2%+ dividends, also land and other assets grow by more than that. Because of many factors such as UK being regarded as safe, financial advisers telling them should have diverse holdings and because London has a great escort scene ( seriously ).
What does it cost us though - think of it this way - paying the interest on the debt takes about 11 days worth of national income and rising. So if it didn't exist we could notionally all have 11 days holiday at the beginning of the year and start doing work from the 12th January. Which would ne nice.
This guy has done some nice graphs and has a couple of recent quotes from the FT..http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2010/05/18/who-owns-our-debt/It's Insurance Companies, Pension Funds, Overseas, Banks, and other financial institutions all holding a