Banks are paying people to borrow money. That’s alarming news for the global economy.

The Danish lender last week started offering home buyers 10-year mortgages at an interest rate of -0.5 percent. That means borrowers over a decade will pay back a little less than the amount borrowed, not including one-time fees.

This highly unusual condition may be good for Danish home buyers, but economists say it’s an alarming sign for the global economy.

Economic growth is slowing around the world, in part driven by President Trump’s trade war. But there’s a growing debate over whether the global economy is only softening or coming in for a hard landing.

Today, Japan and seven major European governments, including Germany and France, are able to sell bonds with negative yields, as are corporate behemoths Nestlé and Sanofi, whose size gives investors confidence they could withstand a downturn.

The United States hasn’t seen such upside-down bonds yet, though the yields on U.S. government debt have plunged, with at least one yield reaching new lows Wednesday. In recent days, top analysts at two giant investment houses — Pacific Investment Management Co. and JPMorgan Chase — have predicted that U.S. Treasury bond yields could go to zero or lower if the United States tumbles into recession.

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