Nowadays, prime ministers and even presidents cower before the mighty bond markets. These have the ability – in democracies, at least – to have leaders ejected from office via the ballot box, as even US President Donald Trump appears to acknowledge.
However, it is not enough to simply offer dismissive gestures towards the bond markets, as some political leaders have discovered to their cost. It is much more important to ask why it is that bond markets have become so powerful.
It is refreshing in this regard that Andy Burnham, the newly elected member of parliament for Makerfield in northern England and the man widely expected to become Britain’s next prime minister, is in effect doing just that. He appears to have recognised that financial systems – more specifically, mechanisms for transferring savings into investment in his own county and in other market economies – could be in need of a radical overhaul.
As with equity markets, bond markets are virtually force-fed with savings collected by private financial institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and investment trusts. As a result, bond markets have become too big for their proverbial boots in some cases, while the capitalisation of the equity markets has grown in size to become a threat to financial stability.
Meanwhile, government budgets have become overburdened with responsibilities ranging from defence and health spending to infrastructure and education provision. They are underfunded from tax revenues and forced to turn to borrowing from bond markets, becoming increasingly indebted in the process.
At first sight, Burnham might appear as likely as his predecessors to exacerbate this situation by following the increasing trend among governments to nationalise or renationalise key assets, such as water systems in the UK. He is far from alone in urging increased state control of important national assets.
