Investors crave security. In flight from perceived risk, they are running for perceived safety. Many are run-ning for U.S. Treasurys, safe―they think ―at any price. But government securities are absolutely safe in only one partic-ular. Namely, the Treasury can always materialize the dollars with which to redeem them. And if the Treasury for some reason couldn't find the dollars, the Federal Reserve could print them. In reality, Treasurys are no more inherently safe than stocks are inherently value-laden. Safety and value are qualities conferred not by the nature of an asset but by the price at which it's acquired.
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