2 responses to “USTs Are the Basis of the Coming Crisis”

1. 

   Mary

   February 10, 2026 at 2:22 pm

   Owners of treasuries cannot sell them back to the US treasury, they can only let them run to term and then get paid out at face value. They can offer them in the open market, but someone has to be willing to buy them – and there are willing buyers. The point being China can’t just demand the US buy them back. Too often commentators talk in terms of other countries ‘dumping’ treasuries.

   Reply
   1. 

      David DeGerolamo

      February 10, 2026 at 4:33 pm

      That is not how it works. China dumps USTs by selling them to another party at a discount. Once that cycle starts, USTs are dumped at higher losses and any future sales are made at higher interest rates. Or they are not sold and the Fed buys them.

      Reply