For a non economist like me, one of the most unclear aspects of an economy is the bonds market.
Take two stories in the media this morning, for example: one in the Sydney Morning Herald, which talks about bond prices going up, and how Australian bonds don't affect as much as they do elsewhere; and then one by Alan Kohler, talking about concerns of there being "the biggest government bond bubble in history" and how it needs to deflate carefully.
I come away from both articles still being somewhat confused; but maybe that's just me...
Anyway, the comments following the Kohler article are interesting, including one by someone talking about the vast extent of the derivatives market being a major concern. (Yes, according to him, the derivatives problem that caused the GFC are in a sense still around bigger than ever.) Yet, someone following that points out that the value of this market all depends on how you count the amount of money at stake; and, I must admit, the first comment does sound as if it might be from someone equivalent to a fiat currency nutter. But I don't know.
And now that I think of it - in the current situation, provided this bond market stuff doesn't blow up, the goldbugs (who often tend to be climate change skeptics) have probably blown a huge amount on gold investments, and will never get it back, haven't they?* Including, I hope, JoNova. It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.
* Oddly, in the comment piece I link to, the writer says "I’ve always thought of ‘gold bugs’ as the crashing bores of the
investment world — the same personality type who bangs on obsessively at
dinner about the evils of Europe or the perils of climate change." He's completely wrong on the point - see JoNova, and (I am sure) many in the Tea Party movement.
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