Investors are paying close attention to the world’s safest assets
Forget the Federal Reserve. There is a new show in town
Regular and predictable. That has been the golden rule of Treasury issuance for 40 years. America’s fiscal branch once funded itself with “tactical” bond sales. Officials would survey market participants and issue debt in response. But this process proved highly disruptive to financial activity. So in 1982 they adopted a new approach: a regular schedule of issuance would be followed, communicated long in advance. Treasury officials now think that, by reducing overall borrowing costs, this strategy has saved taxpayers a fortune.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Forget the Fed”
Finance & economics November 4th 2023
- Donald Trump’s second term would be a protectionist nightmare
- American banks now offer customers a better deal
- What a third world war would mean for investors
- Investors are paying close attention to the world’s safest assets
- China’s economy is a mess. Why aren’t firms going under?
- How Japan poses a threat to the global financial system
- The Middle East’s economy is caught in the crossfire
From the November 4th 2023 edition
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