Freedom Lies Beyond Government Bonds

The warning by Standard & Poor's that there was now a 50% chance that it would downgrade US Federal debt from its traditional AAA-rated status has concentrated a lot of minds in Washington and elsewhere. At one level it has forced commentators and investors to recognize that without the United States and the European countries caught up in the eurozone mess, there are not a lot of risk-free credits left - the average pension fund cannot reasonably satisfy its long-term liabilities by buying debt issued by the Isle of Man, for example.