bond market vigilantes

My column from this morning's Roll Call is about Wall Street's clearly changing opinion about the federal deficit and national debt.  I wonder why CNBC hasn't discussed this yet.

Bond Vigilantes Are Now Deficit Cheerleaders

Aug. 3, 2010


The story is that the bond market forced President Bill Clinton to change his budget plans. Bob Rubin, director of the newly created National Economic Council, supposedly convinced Clinton that those who buy and sell Treasury securities on Wall Street would force interest rates much higher and hurt the economy if he didn’t do something about the deficit and federal borrowing.

Here's my column from today's Roll Call.

Let He Who Is Without National Debt Sin Cast the First Stone

A small part of me is glad that bond market vigilantes are focused on the federal budget, the deficit and the national debt. Not caring about the amount that the government is borrowing would make bond traders far too much like the mortgage market that was willing to look the other way as no-doc, ninja (no income, no job or assets) and payment-option adjustable rate mortgage loans helped lead to the economic problems that we’re suffering through today.

But most of the bond market’s concerns are remarkably misplaced or misstated, and they are clearly being hyped for political purposes. Those in Washington, D.C., who are using these concerns to attract attention are not just incorrect but almost laughably wrong. They are also at least partly to blame for what they are now so willing to blame on others.