Europeans are well known for their love of travel. For centuries they colonised almost every country they ever set foot in. But where bond issuance is concerned they have never really needed to venture much outside of Europe before.
Before the euro was created in 1999 there were a multitude of European currencies to raise debt in, not to mention an extremely large eurodollar market based out of London thanks to a quirk in the US tax system, which allowed it to flourish from the 1960s onwards.
But now there is a new bond market in town and everyone knows it is far too big to ignore....