Not quite. You don't become a part owner of the US government. If the worth of the government goes up, your worth does not go up with it.
It's a kind of loan, like a bond. You buy a "100 dollar" t-bill for, say, 98 dollars, and at the end of the year, you get to sell it back to the government for the full hundred. The higher the interest rate, the less you get to buy your "100 dollar" t-bill for at the beginning.
US treasury bills are generally considered the safest possible investments, on the idea that the US is a powerful, stable country that is highly unlikely to back out of its financial commitments. There is also very little speculation about their worth: it says right on the bill what you're going to get for it, so there's very little market in guessing their value.
-Jester
It's a kind of loan, like a bond. You buy a "100 dollar" t-bill for, say, 98 dollars, and at the end of the year, you get to sell it back to the government for the full hundred. The higher the interest rate, the less you get to buy your "100 dollar" t-bill for at the beginning.
US treasury bills are generally considered the safest possible investments, on the idea that the US is a powerful, stable country that is highly unlikely to back out of its financial commitments. There is also very little speculation about their worth: it says right on the bill what you're going to get for it, so there's very little market in guessing their value.
-Jester