Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“During the past several months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a big bet that interest rates were coming down. A whole lot of old 30- and 10-year Treasury bonds with old, low interest rates are coming due over the next year or so, and if they were to be simply rolled over into new same-dated bonds, high borrowing costs would be locked in for a long time. So Bessent rolled them over into short-term bonds instead. The hope was that interest rates would come down, and he wouldn’t have to lock in very high rates. Instead, the opposite happened, and 30- and 10-year rates are at their highest levels in 20 years. Interest costs on the national debt now easily outstrip spending on the military, and are projected to grow, a lot.” (08/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/24/scott-bessent-cant-fix-bond-market-trump-treasury-interest-rates/