For people who conduct their transactions in $'s, sure. But Europeans buying US Treasuries would be subject to currency risk, which could easily wipe out that 5% APR
Individual corporate and government bonds are traded on the German stock exchanges. A regular brokerage account is sufficient to purchase these (e.g. Flatex). Tax statements are typically handled by the broker.
Yes definitely, I didn't mean to imply therefore US stocks are the better choice, only that US fixed income isn't some straightforward escape hatch for Europeans.
Agreed. But EU fixed income is becoming very attractive and 3% risk-free short-term government debt (that can be easily bought directly from the government with minimal fees at least in some countries) is much better than a bank account paying 0% (or maybe more but probably in a less solid bank).
"Only if"..well yea. And why wouldn't it? I don't know what you're basing your thesis on, it is very common to have currency moves in either direction that massively exceed the differential in US vs Euro rates. Making bets on how it plays out is also a big market, but in that case you're a currency trader...is that the type of risk profile of a non-trader looking for short term fixed income/savings? I doubt it.
One should probably default to making returns in the currency they buy things and pay taxes in unless there's an obvious reason not to. Trying to make an extra ~2% on short term rates seems like picking up nickels in front of a steam roller. Euro is up like 16% from the bottom last summer, and when it trends it can go for a while. Sounds risky.
There are no Euro bonds in the sense of debt issued by the EU, to my knowledge (although it's been discussed). All EU government debt is still issued by national governments of the EU constituent states.
