The Bond Market
The largest market in the world and the one that disciplines governments: how a bond is priced and what duration and convexity measure, the $161 trillion market and who holds it, the yield curve taken apart, Treasuries and their auctions, the Fed and its peers, mortgage bonds, corporate credit from investment grade to CLOs, private credit, municipal bonds, securitization, inflation-linked and catastrophe bonds, the world's sovereigns, the machinery of trading, ratings, and clearing, and ten crises from Volcker to 2026. Written as of October 2026, with American long yields near their highest since the early 2000s, after the Federal Reserve's first rise since 2023 and before its October 27-28 meeting and the Treasury's November refunding. Where the field argues, from why long yields rose and how the Treasury should borrow to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the AI debt, private credit, the municipal exemption, and fiscal dominance, each side makes its case before the evidence. Opens with a market snapshot from one day's close, and its worked examples run on October's numbers, from the ten-year auction of October 7 to a hedge, a mortgage pool, and a ladder.