NEARLY a decade ago, when budget deficits ballooned in the United States, it was widely said that Washington  like Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire”  “depended on the kindness of strangers.” In Washington’s case, foreigners  mostly foreign governments  stepped in to buy most of the new Treasury securities being issued.

Budget deficits have ballooned again, but the story is different this time. Americans are buying most of the new Treasuries being issued. Foreign governments, whose purchases were once critical, were net sellers of Treasury securities in the first half of 2010, according to figures released this week.

That buying has reduced the Treasury’s need to attract foreign capital and has helped to keep interest rates very low.

It is not clear, of course, how much that appetite for Treasuries reflects an eagerness to lend money to the United States government as opposed to a fear of losses from alternative investments.