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US 10-year Treasury yield nears 5.2%, above what Germany, France, Canada, Greece and Estonia pay to borrow

A global bond selloff pushed the yield up, but other big borrowers are paying less than the US.

Estonia pays 3.6% to borrow, vs. nearly 5.2% for the US. The Atlantic's David Frum argues the Iran war, inflation and pandemic debt hit every borrower, so the gap must come from US choices like the unpaid-for 2017 tax cut.

The debt and the markets:

  • US debt was $14.3 trillion in April 2011, and $23.2 trillion by early 2020 after the 2017 tax cut (The Atlantic).
  • Frum on X: markets have more confidence in the independence of the European Central Bank than the Trump-era Federal Reserve.
  • The FT reports investors see the higher borrowing costs doing little so far to slow US activity.