Yahoo!Finance/Alexandra Harris/10-17-2022
“The long-simmering idea that the US government should stand ready to buy back Treasury securities from investors to improve market functioning is moving closer to reality.”
USAGOLD note: The question that immediately arises after reading the headline above is: “Where is the Treasury Department going to find the funds to buy back those bonds?” After all, we are talking about a government that is deeply in debt without the means. But Treasury’s proposal is classic. It intends to retire one bond by issuing another, similar to paying off one credit card by borrowing on another. And somehow, we are led to believe that it will make a difference.
Additions to the US federal debt
(Quarterly – 1970 through 2022 Q2)
Sources: St. Louis Federal Reserve [FRED], US Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Service
