Some of our regular readers may have been under the impression that, in the age of digital media, post-newsprint, it had become unnecessary to simply fill empty space in the absence of news.
Nah.
From Bloomberg’s Keith Jenkins and Anchalee Worrachate:
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) — Governments of the world’s leading economies have more than $7,600,000,000,000 of debt maturing this year, with most facing a rise in borrowing costs.
Led by Japan’s $3,000,000,000,000 and the U.S.’s $2,800,000,000,000, the amount coming due for the Group of Seven nations and Brazil, Russia, India and China is up from $7,400,000,000,000 at this time last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ten-year bond yields will be higher by year-end for at least seven of the countries, forecasts show….
And s000000000000 on for 1,500 words.
Plus a table:
Country 2012 Bond, Bill Redemptions ($) Coupon Payments
Japan 3,000 billion 117 billion
U.S. 2,783 billion 212 billion
Italy 428 billion 72 billion
France 367 billion 54 billion
Germany 285 billion 45 billion
Canada 221 billion 14 billion
Brazil 169 billion 31 billion
U.K. 165 billion 67 billion
China 121 billion 41 billion
India 57 billion 39 billion
Russia 13 billion 9 billion
More news when we get it.
Related link:
Big questions for 2012 – Gideon Rachman