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Comment by CurtHagenlocher | Hacker News Reader

"At the very moment Merkel and her allies are hectoring the Greeks about their profligacy, the airport’s cost, borne by taxpayers, has tripled to €5.4 billion."

So, which country does Germany want to borrow money from in order to cover the wasteful spending?

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German EUR bonds have the second lowest yields globally, with Switzerland being the leader. Also their ratings are higher than f. eg. the US bonds. So the German government does not really have to worry about borrowing money.

Japan's are lower than Germany's.

For now. Things change.

Not quite sure if it is still the case, but not so long ago Germany was borrowing money at negative interest rate.

No, you got that wrong. Either their interest rates were compared to their growth, which may yield a positive return or you're mixing things up with the European Central Bank's decision to reduce the interest rate on deposits.

Edit: mea culpa. Looks like you're right : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/84a1ddc8-bce5-11e4-9902-00144feab7...

That was true for the federal government however I would expect the rates for states and local governments to be quite different.

Lands, at least the better ones, are also borrowing at zero/slightly negative yields: http://www.boerse-frankfurt.de/en/bonds/lfa+f+b+bayern+is+r2...

This happens not (only) because it is safer to keep piles of German bonds than piles of EUR, but because of the unorthodox ECB monetary policy. We certainly live in some very interesting times.

As with any country monetizing debt, they auction bonds to the highest bidder.

The 'highest bidder' being the bidder accepting the least interest.

Well, Germany does not need to, as it has a balanced budget:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-government-achieves-balan...

The calculation probably includes new debt and projected repayment options, e.g. a rising growth factor, so it's not to be taken as fact.

It is about 2014, how can it include projected repayment options?

Not all national debt is foreign debt; in the US, a vast majority of the US debt has historically been held by domestic investors.

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