Trump vs. the Bond Market

A lot of things are on track to get more expensive.

The U.S. Treasury market is the bedrock of the global economy. When yields on those Treasuries go up, mortgages, car loans and credit cards get more expensive, and it can hit the stock market, too. And yields have been going up – to levels we haven’t seen consistently since before the Great Recession – inspiring some erratic and futile efforts from the Trump administration to push them back down.

So why are yields creeping higher? What is the administration trying to do about it? And if this continues, what’s in store for the economy?

Robin Wigglesworth is the editor of the Financial Times blog Alphaville, a host of the podcast “The Story of Money” and the author of the forthcoming book “A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World.”

This conversation was recorded on August 24, 2026.

Mentioned:

“An Economic D-Day Is Coming for Iran” by Scott Bessent

Book Recommendations:

Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar

The Prize by Daniel Yergin

Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.