Yet, this is expressly untrue. Bond buyers and stock investors are two
distinct crowds. Their risk aversion is different. Their investment
preferences are disparate. Some of them - e.g., pension funds - are
constrained by law as to the composition of their investment
portfolios. Once government debt has turned scarce or expensive, bond
investors tend to resort to cash. That cash - not equity or corporate
debt - is the veritable substitute for risk-free securities is a basic
tenet of modern investment portfolio theory.
Moreover, the "perfect substitute" hypothesis assumes the existence of
efficient markets and frictionless transmission mechanisms. But this is
a conveniently idealized picture which has little to do with grubby
reality. Switching from one kind of investment to another incurs -
often prohibitive - transaction costs. In many countries, financial
intermediaries are dysfunctional or corrupt or both. They are unable to
efficiently convert savings to investments - or are wary of doing so.
Furthermore, very few capital and financial markets are closed,
self-contained, or self-sufficient units. Governments can and do borrow
from foreigners. Most rich world countries - with the exception of
Japan - tap "foreign people's money" for their public borrowing needs.
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