by David Wessel
First published 2015
The federal government owes $13 trillion and the debt keeps growing. Treasury officials must decide how to borrow this massive sum, choosing between short-term and long-term bonds while affecting everyone from Wall Street traders to homebuyers. Harvard economists Robin Greenwood, Sam Hanson, Joshua Rudolph, and Larry Summers believe the Treasury wastes taxpayer money by borrowing too much long-term debt. They argue the Treasury and Federal Reserve worked against each other in recent years. The Fed bought long-term bonds to push investors toward other investments, while Treasury simultaneously sold more long-term bonds to those same investors. Public and private sector experts respond with their own views on Treasury borrowing practices. Some criticize how Treasury manages its debt operations. Wessel examines this overlooked area where financial decisions shape the entire economy.
Genres: business, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century, finance, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism
177 pages · Paperback · Brookings Institution Press