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The United States' stockmarket bubble was inflated on the back of a mountain of corporate debt. In 2002, fears about the sustainability of debts sent corporate-bond prices tumbling. In early 2003, however, investors have been bidding up bond prices, to levels that are in danger of becoming as dotty as share prices once reached. The prices of bonds have been rising as fears of deflation have mounted. As yields on government bonds have become thinner, investors have scurried to look for fatter returns elsewhere. In doing so, they have pushed the prices of bonds issued by riskier lenders up a lot faster than the prices of paper issued by rich countries' governments. The fall in borrowing costs may be a boon to a world economy that is still far from robust.