Economics

Aug 20, 2026 Jim O'Neill

What is the apparent fragility in the US bond market telling us? Since markets tend to be less wrong than those who comment on them regularly, their signals must be taken seriously, especially when they coincide with a relative softening in US inflation figures and other high-frequency economic indicators.

LONDON—As we approach the end of the northern summer, often a volatile period for financial markets, all eyes are on the apparent fragility of US bonds. Some observers will say that sustained weakness is a sign that the US market is losing its role as the anchor of the global financial system. Yet there is little evidence of this happening. On recent days when US bonds have traded especially poorly, so, too, have other markets around the world.