Yankee Bonds
Categories: Bonds, International
We're safe. We're sound. We're sane.
At least that's how we look financially when compared with most of the rest of the world. That's why a bunch of countries issue their own bonds denominated in U.S. dollars. Ours is a "hard currency" in that we don't or at least haven't historically created massive 10% a month inflation to deflate our own currency and make it super easy for our government to pay off its debts.
Because there exists that trust, the rest of the world often values our own currency higher than its own. When they issue, say, Argentine bonds payable in U.S. dollars, that's a Yankee bond.
We are the yanker; they are the yank-ee.