{"id":650582,"date":"2026-08-22T10:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T10:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/650582\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T10:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T10:50:16","slug":"bond-investors-dismiss-trump-administrations-band-aid-on-a-bullet-hole-intervention-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/650582\/","title":{"rendered":"Bond investors dismiss Trump administration\u2019s \u2018band-aid on a bullet hole\u2019 intervention \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> appetite for risk might endear him to his Maga base. Bond investors are a more dispassionate breed, however.<\/p>\n

Concerns over his handling of the economy, in particular his tax and spending plans, which have lifted US debt above $40 trillion for the first time, sent the yield on 30-year United States bonds<\/a> to their highest level since 2007 this week.<\/p>\n

Elevated inflation, a function of the US president\u2019s on-off war with Iran<\/a>, is also souring sentiment.<\/p>\n

Inflation is bad for bond investors as the value of money deteriorates quicker, meaning investors demand a higher yield for holding debt.<\/p>\n

To allay concerns and dampen the increase in yields, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent<\/a> this week announced that the government would double its buyback of US bonds. <\/p>\n

The intervention came after Washington\u2019s surprise intervention to buy Japanese yen this month, a move that analysts claimed was also designed to support US treasuries.<\/p>\n

Japanese investors are the biggest holders of US debt and a slide in the value of the yen would have seen many liquidate their US assets.<\/p>\n

The mini-rally triggered by Bessent\u2019s intervention this week quickly fizzled out with one investor calling it a \u201cband-aid on a bullet hole\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US government\u2019s move is the \u201cclearest sign yet\u201d that the US is following Japan toward debasing its currency, said Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The administration is \u201cplaying with fire\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

The dollar was trading at a three-month low on Friday and was on track for its worst week this month. By buying back bonds, the US government pushes more dollars into circulation, weakening the currency.<\/p>\n

These bond market machinations are just another sign of how Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a>, his on-off war with Iran and, most of all, his unsustainable tax and spending plans are creating economic turbulence at home. <\/p>\n

He came to power promising to recharge the US economy. Instead he seems to be laying the groundwork for another fiscal crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump\u2019s appetite for risk might endear him to his Maga base. Bond investors are a more dispassionate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[989,79,2355,356,18,19,18929,17,2712,384,1411],"class_list":["post-650582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bonds","tag-business","tag-cantillon","tag-donald-trump","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-scott-bessent","tag-united-states","tag-us-tariffs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117138779477928217","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}