Developed economies around the world are loaded up with debt. That was less of a problem in the era of free money but inflationary pressures are back and structurally-higher interest rates mean debt is more expensive to issue and service. Many investors have been warning that governments are addicted to debt for the past 20 years and the alarm bells are growing louder. This film examines what some are calling the biggest issue in global finance today, the role of the ‘bond vigilantes’, and whether government borrowing could spiral out of control.
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00:00 Introduction
01:05 Why the world is ‘addicted’ to debt
03:27 Government bonds explained
04:11 The debt ‘death spiral”
06:18 Where does the deficit go?
07:47 Inflationary pressures
09:59 Return of the ‘bond vigilantes’
11:03 The UK’s Liz Truss moment
12:39 America’s unsustainable debt profiles
17:32 Japan’s debt and its determined central bank
18:54 China’s ‘staggering’ debt levels
19:50 Italy, France and Germany
22:49 A risk of a financial market ‘heart attack’
24:51 Deficits ‘can be useful’
27:12 The future
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