The chart (click to enlarge) below is found at John Mauldin’s Thoughts from the Front Line. To Swamp Report, the fascinating thing about it is the sheer dominance of the United States. The US will account for over 3T$ of the $5.3T in debt expected to be issued in 2009. And…it gets worse in 2010 and 2011.
Talk about crowding out! If/when interest rates rise substantially the world will know who to blame.
Two Japanese were detained at the border between Switzerland and Italy carrying $134 Billion dollars in US Federal Reserve and Treasury bonds hidden in the bottom of a suitcase. If they are real a 40% fine is payable to the Italians. Market Ticker considers the implications:
But folks: This is $134.5 billion dollars worth.
If they’re real, what government (the only entity that would have such a cache) is trying to unload them?
Notice, by the way, that the US Media has totally ignored this story – even though the securities in question are allegedly US instruments.
Gee, I wonder why? Might the authorities know they’re real and be just a wee bit nervous that disclosure of a sovereign attempting to covertly dump nearly $140 billion in debt could cause a wee bit of panic, given that we’re running nearly $200 billion a month in deficits?
Inquiring minds want to know what’s really going on here.
Zero Hedge has a link from an Italian periodical with the following pic:
