20 augusti. Bessent 30Y. Trump ”isolera och besegra” hotet från Iran. Alltför många oroar sig för statsskulder. Ukraina elections.
The problem, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a small but hugely symbolic move to stop the steady rise in longer bond yields, is that even his power appears to be limited.
Drastic changes in fiscal policy are needed, not signaling and symbols.
Bessent’s key intervention, announced as Wall Street opened, was to double the amount of 10-year and longer bonds that the Treasury can buy back. If you think this sounds like something the Fed would do, you would be right.
Monetary policy ever since the Global Financial Crisis has revolved around quantitative easing (QE) — buying bonds to push down their yields.
Kevin Warsh, the new Fed chairman, wants to move away from that and shrink the central bank’s enormous holdings of bonds.
The 30-year yield — at its highest since the eve of the crisis in 2007 —dropped eight basis points. But the upward trend remains intact.
John Authers Bloomberg August 20, 2026
Treasury Announces Increased Sizes of Nominal Long-End Liquidity Support Buybacks Beginning September 9
Alltför många oroar sig för statsskulder och statsskuldräntor.
Om man har en sedelpress går man inte i konkurs.
Höjd ränta redan i höst kan vara rätt om expansiv finanspolitik nästa år skulle krocka med inflationsdrivare som svag krona, fortsatt Hormuzkris och en dyr elvinter i Europa.
Nils Åkesson 20 augusti 2026
RE: Man skall höja räntan om ekonomin behöver kylas av. Men svag krona, Hormuzkris och dyr elvinter tar pengar från konsumenter och företag och kyler av ekonomin. Dumskallarna kan inte kan skilja på prisnivå och inflationstakt. Man måste tänka längre än 2%-näsan räcker.
Trump varnar andra länder för att låta sina finansinstitut, företag, flygplatser eller statliga organ att tillhandahålla hjälp till Iran och att det kommer att få ”ENORMA ekonomiska konsekvenser”.
”Detta kommer bli en ekonomisk D-dag”, skriver han och manar alla allierade att ställa sig på USA:s sida för att ”isolera och besegra” hotet från Iran.
TT 20 augusti 2026
Trump has a new plan to crush Iran’s economy.
“Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW.”
Many analysts are skeptical that the revolutionary regime in Tehran, known for inflicting intense repression and economic duress on civilians, will back down in its existential struggle with the US. After all, it’s endured decades of some of the world’s most punitive economic sanctions.
“Those who think that Iran will collapse under the pressure, I think they are mistaken, despite the economic situation,” said Daniel Citrinowicz, who served in Israel Defense Intelligence, including as head of the Iran branch in the Research and Analysis Division.
CNN 20 August 2026
The Call for a Ukrainian Election
Taken alone, almost every argument Fedorov makes is self-evidently true. Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected president in 2019, so his five-year term expired two years ago, and democracy would be served by submitting him to the judgment of voters sooner rather than later.
And although the constitution forbids holding a vote under martial law, Fedorov is right that the conflict with Russia could go on for years more, creating unavoidable issues of political accountability.
Holding elections during wartime would not defy Moscow, but rather answer Vladimir Putin's prayers, and Ukraine cannot afford the distractions and potential destabilization that would come with it.
Marc Champion Bloomberg August 20, 2026
Breda nedgångar på USA-börserna. De långa marknadsräntor vände upp efter gårdagens nedgångar samtidigt som oljepriser lyfte.
Efter elva handelsdagar i rad utan uppgångar lyste det åter grönt på Stockholmsbörsen
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