One might define absurdity as the quality or state of being ridiculous. Or one can glance at the global quantity of negative-yielding debt.
The total? Nearly $14 trillion.
Holding a bond to maturity that pays a negative return is insane. Wouldn’t risk-averse folks prefer a 0% return that would come with the embrace of physical cash?
Unfortunately, central banks do crazy things. The euro deposit rate is at -0.4%. That means savers and investors could lose more money at a bank than with ownership of intermediate government debt, particularly if that deposit rate is pushed