8.24.2026 – mistrust of reckless

mistrust of reckless
economic governance has
makings of problem

Adapted from the article The treasury bond mess: is this the demise of the US as a safe haven? by Eduardo Porter, a journalist and writer focused on economics and politics, where Mr. Porter writes:

The US is scooping up treasury bonds in an effort to raise their price and push yields down – but it’s not working

The main threat to treasurys status as the paramount store of value in the world, though, comes from within. The supply of treasury bonds has been growing at a fast clip in recent times, to fund a budget deficit that is now hovering at about 6% of GDP. Supply has outpaced demand. These days, US government debt no longer has the top rating from the big credit rating agencies and must offer a higher yield than that of many other affluent nations.

Add in the increasing mistrust of Trump’s reckless economic governance and you have the makings of a problem. In the Trump era, treasury bonds no longer rise as they used to in moments of high risk. When Trump unleashed his volley of tariffs against everybody on “Liberation Day” in April last year, investors dumped treasurys just as they would a lowly emerging market bond.

What do I know about economics?

When I was the Grand Rapids Junior College, I was rudderless and didn’t know where I wanted to end so on the advice of friends I took a lot of ‘Business Math’ classes as it would come in handy somewhere.

Business Math used to be known as accounting – T accounts and double entry stuff and such.

When I transferred to the school in Ann Arbor my advisor looked over my transcript and the term ‘Business Math’ meant nothing to him and he mused out loud, ‘you have a lot of economics credits’ and he wrote on my record that I had satisfied all math and economic class requirements.

It was one of those odd moments in my life where I kept my mouth shut and let my record speak for itself and was spared any further math or econ classes.

For myself, when thinking of econ, I always come back to this passage from Gore Vidal’s novel, Lincoln where Vidal writes:

“I know,” said Lincoln, “that in the matter of the currency, we have, always, too much of it, which means too little of it.

This is highly metaphysical, as my old law partner, Billy Herndon, would say.”

My point is that we allow on the experts to solve these threats … not create them yet Mr. Porter writes:

The main threat to treasurys’ status as the paramount store of value in the world, though, comes from within. The supply of treasury bonds has been growing at a fast clip in recent times, to fund a budget deficit that is now hovering at about 6% of GDP. Supply has outpaced demand. These days, US government debt no longer has the top rating from the big credit rating agencies and must offer a higher yield than that of many other affluent nations.

Like Nato trying to convince Trump to stay or the World Trade Organization working to restore its relevance since the US left, financial leaders don’t yet know quite how to cope with the seemingly inevitable demise of the American safe haven. Indeed, treasurys maintain what is left of their status largely because it has not been easy for foreign countries and businesses to find somewhere else to keep their stash.

But the search is on. Bessent will have to do more than repurchase a few billion worth of treasurys to overcome mistrust in America’s Loony Tunes leader and ensure that there is sufficient demand out there to match the massive supply coming down the pike.

The main threat to treasurys’ status comes from within.

Will have to do more than repurchase a few billion worth of treasurys to overcome mistrust in America’s Loony Tunes leader.

This is highly metaphysical, as Lincoln’s old law partner, Billy Herndon, would say.

On the other hand, no it’s not!