Red Help Lowers Rates

An article on Bloomberg.com by William Pesek Jr. gives us a good idea about why our long term treasury yields are so low, and it has little to do with domestic "inflationary expectations" or "investors expecting a slowdown in the economy" or any of that other gibberish the experts blabber on about.

Foreign central banks buy a huge amount of these things; the Chinese are one of the biggest holders.

About $250 billion of China's reserves are in U.S. Treasuries. China's purchases ``put Pimco's Bill Gross to shame and contribute to low yields'' in the world's biggest economy, said Nouriel Roubini...

The press tends to hyperventilate over Gross's frequent comments about U.S. debt yields. The reason: He manages Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co.'s $90.6 billion Total Return Fund. Investors might be wise to pay more attention to where the really big money is: in Beijing.

Why do they hold foreign currency reserves, of which Treasury Bonds are a big part? According to Pesek:

Asia's currency-reserve arms race reflects two things. First, a desire to keep currencies from rising so that exports aren't hurt. Second, a determination to avoid a replay of 1997, when the region lacked ample reserves to fight speculators attacking currencies.

You should thank the commies for that low rate mortgage of yours. Their central bank is working hard for you.