President Obama released his annual financial disclosure form this afternoon, showing he has by far the bulk of his assets — anywhere between $2 million and $10 million dollars, according to the broad ranges of the disclosure forms — in "U.S. Treasury Notes" and "U.S. Treasury Bills." No information on when they mature, what rate they are paying, or whether any are of the "inflation protected" variety.
It's interesting because it allows Mr. Obama to minimize his own personal tax bill at a time when he is calling on high income individuals such as himself to pay more taxes. And also because it means he has a personal stake in the negotiations with Congress over raising the debt limit, and could be seriously and adversely affected by inflation. And it means Mr. Obama has decided, at least for now, that he is going to entrust his main savings to the government (himself and Secretary Geithner and the Fed and Congress) rather than to any Wall Street or off-Wall Street asset manager or the stocks or bonds of any private sector companies. (His wife does have some money in a Vanguard S&P 500 Index fund.) I'm not saying there's anything inappropriate about the president's investment, but it's just a little fact worth filing away.