US Long-Dated Bonds Harder to Sell: Not Just Inflation

Bessent's expanded buybacks read less as a fix for inflation than as an admission that the long end is straining under supply, deficits and softer foreign demand. The significance is that fiscal policy is edging into territory normally left to monetary policy — managing long-term borrowing costs directly. That matters for anyone pricing duration, from pension funds to RWA issuers benchmarking to Treasuries. The open question is whether buybacks genuinely absorb the long-end supply, or merely shift who holds it, and whether demand from Japan continues to fade.