DON SURBER: “The federal government now pays more to borrow money (3.93%) than I do on my mortgage (3.375%). I have better credit.”

UPDATE: Fabius Maximus calls Surber a liar. That’s a dangerous thing to do to a West Virginian, though I suppose being disguised as a dead Roman general makes it safer. However, I think that Fabius is wrong here:

Surber might have an adjustable rate mortgage. So his rate is lower because he (the debtor) bears the risk of rising rates. The creditor bears that risk with a Treasury bond, and gets a higher rate in return. To minimize the risk of rising rates breaking the Treasury, the government sensibly borrows a substantial amount in long-term fixed rate debt.

Long-term rates, however, are rising. I’m not sure of the percentage of federal debt that’s in comparatively short-term instruments, and I couldn’t find it easily on Google, but I believe it’s much larger than this passage makes it sound. Meanwhile, a recent Washington Post article suggests that Treasury and the Fed are playing a political game that may backfire.