Uploaded October 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Frank Newman (former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury) discussing the myth of the bond vigilantes. Part of this myth always states that investors will get spooked because the US government might not be able to pay back the national debt, so they will stop lending to the US government and interest rates will spike. Newman points out why this is impossible.
If you have a large amount of cash in your portfolio, like $100 billion, then you have a choice between holding it in banks or buying U.S. Treasuries (purchasing any other asset only shifts the decision onto somebody else, but *somebody* will end up deciding between holding money in the bank, or purchasing U.S. Treasuries).
And if you have that much money, a bank is too risky. For middle class families, their savings in their bank account and retirement fund might represent between a few years and a few decades of work, and their bank accounts are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC. But for the top 1%, much of that wealth could be from several generations of income, and above $250,000 it won't be insured in a bank. So banks are too risky.
The safest place to store U.S. dollars is in a U.S. Treasury bond. Treasuries pay interest, and are backed up by "the full faith and credit of the United States Government," the very same entity that controls the printing press for the U.S. dollar and can't run out of them.
Which would you choose?
Now you understand why it is impossible that there would be nobody buying U.S. Treasury bonds. In fact, at most Treasury auctions, there are 3 times more buyers than bonds getting sold.
Watch the whole talk here: youtube.com/watch?v=Ae7PO-j7TIc
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Frank Newman (former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury) discussing the myth of the bond vigilantes. Part of this myth always states that investors will get spooked because the US government might not be able to pay back the national debt, so they will stop lending to the US government and interest rates will spike. Newman points out why this is impossible.
If you have a large amount of cash in your portfolio, like $100 billion, then you have a choice between holding it in banks or buying U.S. Treasuries (purchasing any other asset only shifts the decision onto somebody else, but *somebody* will end up deciding between holding money in the bank, or purchasing U.S. Treasuries).
And if you have that much money, a bank is too risky. For middle class families, their savings in their bank account and retirement fund might represent between a few years and a few decades of work, and their bank accounts are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC. But for the top 1%, much of that wealth could be from several generations of income, and above $250,000 it won't be insured in a bank. So banks are too risky.
The safest place to store U.S. dollars is in a U.S. Treasury bond. Treasuries pay interest, and are backed up by "the full faith and credit of the United States Government," the very same entity that controls the printing press for the U.S. dollar and can't run out of them.
Which would you choose?
Now you understand why it is impossible that there would be nobody buying U.S. Treasury bonds. In fact, at most Treasury auctions, there are 3 times more buyers than bonds getting sold.
Watch the whole talk here: youtube.com/watch?v=Ae7PO-j7TIc
Follow Deficit Owls on Facebook and Twitter:
facebook.com/DeficitOwls
twitter.com/DeficitOwls
