logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
18m 21s

Lessons from the recent US Treasuries se...

Financial Times
About this episode

Markets shook after US President Donald Trump announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs earlier this month. But there was one market in particular that got investors particularly worried: Treasuries. What’s usually a safe haven asset suddenly saw huge sell-offs. Trump managed to avoid further pain by pausing large chunks of his tariffs, but the sell-off prompts a discussion about significant structural flaws in the market. The FT’s US markets editor Kate Duguid explains which cracks in the US Treasuries market we can't ignore.


Clip from The Wall Street Journal


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

For further reading:

Why did Donald Trump buckle?

Is the world losing faith in the almighty US dollar?

The debt-fuelled bet on US Treasuries that’s scaring regulators 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 


Follow Kate Duguid on X (@kateduguid). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
The bloody birth of the bond market
The US Treasury market - the world's largest government bond market - is worth about $32tn today, making it the largest pile of debt accumulated in history. But its roots lie in medieval Venice, a bloody military disaster and a leader who was forced to raise a loan to fund a war ... Show More
43m 18s
Sep 23
Is fraud the sign of a healthy economy?
How do you tell if an economy is actually working? Most economics classes point to controlled inflation, steady growth, or low unemployment - but what if the level of financial fraud is the real hidden indicator?Robin Wigglesworth and Gillian Tett talk to Dan Davies, financial hi ... Show More
45m 42s
Sep 16
Meet the Fuggers: Europe’s richest family ever
Long before Silicon Valley, the grandson of a 15th Century German peasant named Jakob Fugger built a mining and banking empire that dwarfed today’s tech titans, accumulating a fortune estimated at $4 trillion in today’s terms. Richer than the Medici, Rockefeller or Elon Musk, he ... Show More
43m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Markets Plummet as Tariff-War Woes Fuel Exodus From US Assets
Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump backtracked on his once-in-a-century trade war to prevent a meltdown in financial markets, frantic selloffs hit US stocks, bonds and the dollar yet again as fears ... Show More
39m 34s
Apr 2025
Here's Why America's Debt is a Trade War Victim
US Treasury bonds have long served as a refuge for investors during times of panic. But as President Donald Trump unleashes an assault on global trade, their status as the world’s safe haven is increasingly coming into question. Yields, especially on longer-term debt, have surged ... Show More
9m 4s
Apr 2025
The Trump Trade War’s First Casualty? The Bull Market
It's been a volatile few days across global markets.  As the equity sell-off has deepened, a growing number of market strategists have revised down their targets for where the S&P 500 will be at the end of the year, and economists at several big banks have updated their forecasts ... Show More
19m 53s
Apr 2025
Tariff-ied markets
<p>The global trade war intensifies as the Trump Tariffs come into effect. Equities continue to decline for the fourth consecutive day, threatening to push the S&amp;P 500 into bear market territory, as investors seek safe havens. Meanwhile, Treasuries, once considered the world' ... Show More
11m 51s
Apr 2025
Doomed traders: Trump’s tariff fallout
<p>Since Donald Trump announced punishing tariffs on “Liberation Day” last week, stock markets have fallen and governments and businesses scrambled to respond. Our correspondent discusses the impact on the <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/04/06/trumps ... Show More
21m 20s
Apr 2025
Trump’s tariffs rattle global markets
<p>US President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused a global market sell-off on Thursday. Now, there are concerns that these levies will push the US into a recession. We speak to the FT’s senior markets correspondent Ian Smith and our economics editor Sam Fleming about the repercussion ... Show More
10m 35s
May 2025
Stocks Get Hit as Weak Treasury Sale Boosts Yields
Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Wall Street’s worries about a ballooning deficit that threatens America’s status as a safe haven were reflected in a $16 billion Treasury sale that saw lackluster demand - with stocks, bonds and the dollar fall ... Show More
47m 12s