There was a question the other day about who owns US Treasury bonds. Here's
the answer, thanks to the Federal Reserve's flow of funds accounts.
Remember, though, that "households" mean overwhelmingly the top decile of
the income distribution. And note that this refers to direct Treasury
obligations only; agency debt and the debt of government-sponsored
enterprises (GSEs) like Freddie Mac is excluded.
Doug
--
Doug Henwood
[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Left Business Observer
250 W 85 St
New York NY 10024-3217
USA
+1-212-874-4020 voice
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HOLDINGS OF U.S. TREASURY BONDS, END-1994
percent billions
of of
total dollars
total 100.0% 3,465.6
gov't-sponsored enterprises 1.9% 64.4
Federal Reserve 10.5% 364.5
foreign 19.9% 688.3
private domestic 67.8% 2,348.4
nonfinancial 31.5% 1,091.3
households 19.5% 677.3
savings bonds 5.2% 179.9
other 14.4% 497.4
noncorporate business 0.4% 12.8
corporate business 2.9% 99.9
state & local government 8.7% 301.4
commercial banks 8.4% 290.4
US 7.2% 248.0
foreign 0.9% 32.7
bank holding companies 0.1% 4.4
foreign affiliates of US banks 0.2% 5.3
nonbank financial institutions 27.9% 966.7
savings institutions 0.8% 27.1
credit unions 0.6% 21.0
life insurance companies 3.5% 121.1
other insurance companies 3.9% 135.7
private pension funds 8.0% 275.6
state & local gov't pension funds 5.4% 186.9
mutual funds 4.8% 166.3
closed-end funds 0.5% 15.7
money market mutual funds 1.9% 67.4
broker/dealers -2.6% -90.1
bank trust departments 1.2% 40.0
source: Federal Reserve, flow of funds accounts, March 1995
