Even as deficits exploded, the share of government spending allocated to debt service fell. Despite being exceptionally heavy borrowers, Canada, the United States, and the UK all saw their borrowing costs plunge. Over the course of the first half of 2020, the German government, which issues debt at negative rates, looked forward to being paid 12 billion euros to hold the money of anxious investors.47 Private rates fell too. The yields on investment-grade corporate bonds in the United States plunged to lows not seen since the 1950s.48
