[jeffkrol]

In my never-ending and thankless task of bringing reality to the world.. a "moderate" article..

Despite What Bill Gross Says, The U.S. Is Not Greece - Seeking Alpha

One thing I always find somewhat hilarious is the never ending doom-mongering about how hyperinflation is right around the corner and how the "bond vigilantes" are surely going to send bond rates soaring. If that is the case, then why have the interest rates on 10 year Treasuries collapsed to microscopic levels over the last five years at the same time as our total government debt has increased substantially? Indeed, those who had the foresight to invest in longer-dated Treasuries the last several years such as the iShares Barclays 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLH) have done exceedingly well.

The reason for this is that the U.S. controls its own currency, while Greece (as well as Spain and France) do not as they are locked in to a modern-day version of the Gold Standard through their membership in the eurozone.

The difference is that Spain does face a true solvency crisis, because Spain is dependent on what is essentially a foreign central bank, the ECB. It is not surprising, therefore, that investors are worried about buying Spanish bonds, because the Spanish government funding crisis is real. Were Spain to have its own central bank and its own currency, it would not have any problem whatsoever funding its government debt.

Again, I am not saying that Gross is wrong about the debt; of course it would be better if the U.S. government's debt was lower. However, we are not - and never will be - like Greece or any other eurozone country.