QUESTION: You said the “crash is in the debt markets”. Can you please explain how that will evolve?
Liz M.
ANSWER: Once upon a time before 1971, there used to be a difference between debt and cash. Government bonds were not acceptable for collateral. You could not borrow against them. You had to liquidate them. This is why they once believed that it was LESS INFLATIONARY to borrow than print. Today, you can buy TBills and post them as collateral to trade futures contracts.
When paper money was beginning during the American Civil War, the government issued compound interest currency. In reality, this was merely currency that paid interest. Therefore, they were a hybrid where they were actually bonds that circulated as if they were a currency. We have returned to that whereby TBills are a street name and are good collateral so they have become the equivalent of bearer bonds that merely serve the purpose of currency.