[HWR_14]

The US will pay its debts in USD and the German government will pay its debts in Euros. If you think the euros to dollar exchange rate will be better in the future, it can easily dwarf the difference in interest rate between the bonds.

[reducesuffering]

How does that practically work out in selecting bond investments though? Betting on receiving euro coupon payments would look like buying BNDX over BND. But in the last year, while the Euro appreciated ~12% over the Dollar, $BND is up ~3% while BNDX is down ~1%.

[randerson]

International Bond ETFs are normally dollar-hedged. There are some unhedged ones that are in the local currencies and better at tracking foreign exchange rates. e.g. BWX is an unhedged international treasury fund.