Can the U.S. Avoid a Dangerous Debt Spiral?

The financial markets are sending out warning signals, but no one is listening. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Recently, the U.S. government tried to borrow money by selling 30-year bonds and found investors reluctant to lend. That reluctance forced the Treasury to offer a 5.2 percent interest rate to sell its bonds, the highest auction rate in two decades. Washington responded not by curbing its insatiable appetite for borrowing but by announcing a few billion dollars in bond buybacks to calm investors. Jessica Riedl is a contributing writer at The Dispatch and a fellow at the Brookings Institution and can be followed on Twitter at @JessicaBRiedl. More We Think You’d Like