Commentary One of the recent news warnings about the status of the U.S. dollar was the continuing slash of U.S. Treasury securities holdings by mainland China. It’s latest holding in January was US$859.4 billion, a year-over-year drop of 17 percent compared with that of US$1,033.8 billion in January 2022. Seventeen percent is undoubtedly a significant…

The United States has nearly reached its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, so the Treasury must now manage the nation’s bills without resorting to borrowing. That’s a challenge because the government operates on a deficit budget, spending more money than it takes in. Normally the Treasury borrows to cover the shortfall. But Congress places a limit…

Commentary For all the heat and light associated with the showdown battle for the speakership of the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives, the dealmaking addressed symptoms of the problems, not the root causes. Consider the symptoms of one of the major problems that have plagued the United States for decades: out-of-control federal spending, as highlighted…

Commentary America’s public debt is now over $31.3 trillion! Watch the U.S. debt clock increase in real-time (here) and be shocked and amazed at how fast the debt is increasing. As the U.S. Treasury Department reported, “the national debt ($31.35 T) is the total amount of outstanding borrowing by the U.S. Federal Government accumulated over…

Commentary  If you follow the markets, you have probably heard about the recent financial carnage in Great Britain and the forecasted doom in the United States. While the United Kingdom is a smaller country than the United States, generally speaking the United Kingdom has one of the most profound financial systems in the developed world….

WASHINGTON—The nominee for the U.S. Treasury’s top economic diplomacy job said on Tuesday he wants to limit China’s growing global lending influence by working with international financial institutions and development banks to give countries borrowing alternatives. Jay Shambaugh is President Joe Biden’s choice for Treasury undersecretary for international affairs. If confirmed, the George Washington University…

Since hitting their peaks last year, stocks and bonds have been hemorrhaging amid soaring inflation, rising interest rates, and war in Eastern Europe. The leading U.S. benchmark indexes are deep in the red year-to-date. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has slumped about 9 percent, the Nasdaq Composite Index has plunged 20 percent, and the S&P…

NEW YORK—The U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yield on Monday hit 3 percent for the first time since December 2018, a psychological milestone that could have major implications for other financial markets. The 10-year yield is an important barometer for mortgage rates and other financial instruments. It has surged the last two months as the bond…

NEW YORK—A closely monitored section of the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted on Tuesday for the first time since September 2019, a reflection of market concerns that the Federal Reserve could tip the economy into recession as it battles soaring inflation. For a brief moment, the yield on the two-year Treasury note was higher than…

The president of El Salvador leveled an ironic accusation against the U.S. government on Sunday, saying it has been funding the “communist” opposition against him. “U.S. taxpayers should know that their government is using their money to fund communist movements against a democratic elected (and with a 90% approval rating) government in El Salvador,” tweeted…