United StatesSeries · Macro Economics
US Government Borrowing
How the US government funds itself: from the deficit that drives borrowing to the auctions where debt gets sold.
7 episodes
Episodes
The gap between what the government spends and what it collects, and how that gap gets filled.
Bills, Notes, Bonds, TIPS, and Floating Rate Notes: the instruments the Treasury uses to raise money, and why the mix matters.
How decades of borrowing add up: the total stock of US government debt and how fast it is growing.
EP4 - What It Costs
The interest bill on the national debt: how much the government pays to service its borrowing and where the money goes.
EP5 - Who Lends to America
Who holds US government debt: domestic institutions, foreign governments, the Federal Reserve, and individual investors.
EP6 - The Yield Curve
What the market charges the government to borrow at different maturities, and what the shape of the yield curve signals about economic expectations.
EP7 - How Debt Gets Sold
The auction process: how the Treasury sells new debt, who bids, and what the results reveal about demand for government bonds.