In the 1960s or 1970s, because our trading partners were growing far faster than we were, a trade gap did not surface. When, in the 1980s, the difference in growth rates narrowed while the dollar rose, our trade and the associated current account deficits widened dramatically. By the late 1980s, we had become a net debtor nation, ending seven decades as a net creditor.
Major advanced economy sovereign bond yields, on the other hand, have remained very low or even fallen. The Bank for International Settlements has calculated that about $ trillion in sovereign bonds, or about one-quarter of the JPMorgan government bond index according to one report, are now trading at negative yields in global capital markets.