SINCE RICHARD NIXON broke the link between the American dollar and gold in 1971, global finance has floated on a sea of(漂浮在……的海洋上) Treasuries. No asset is more important than America’s government debt. It provides a haven(避风港) for investors at dangerous moments. Trillions of dollars of contracts and securities worldwide are priced with reference to(以……为参考定价) Treasury bonds.
自1971年理查德·尼克松打破美元与黄金的挂钩以来，全球金融一直漂浮在国债的海洋上。没有比美国政府债务更重要的资产了。它在危险时刻为投资者提供避风港。全球数万亿美元的合约和证券都以美国国债为参考定价。
Alas, as our special report explains, the world’s safe asset has seen better days(风光不再，今非昔比). The volume of Treasuries outstanding(未偿还的，流通中的) has grown by 126% over the past decade, to almost $32trn, far outstripping(远远超过) steady demand from the likes of foreign central banks. As a result yield-hunting private investors and hedge funds, fuelled by leverage, have taken a growing share of the market. Occasionally—most notably in March 2020—this demand has suddenly dried up(枯竭，消失), sending short-term funding costs surging and forcing the Federal Reserve to buy bonds and, in effect, to underwrite(承销，担保) the market.
唉，正如我们的特别报道所解释的，这种世界安全资产已经风光不再。过去十年，未偿国债规模增长了126%，达到近32万亿美元，远超外国央行等稳定需求。结果，追逐收益的私人投资者和杠杆对冲基金占据了越来越大的市场份额。偶尔——最明显的是2020年3月——这种需求会突然枯竭，导致短期融资成本飙升，迫使美联储购买债券，实际上在承销市场。
Economic and geopolitical trends are also hurting demand for Treasuries. The resurgence(复苏，再次兴起) of inflation since 2021 has often made stocks and government bonds sell off in tandem(同时抛售), meaning that Treasuries have ceased to play the valuable role of ballast(压舱石，稳定因素) for riskier portfolios. Meanwhile America’s belligerent(好斗的，好战的) trade policy and its repeated deployment of financial sanctions (whatever their merits) have made foreign buyers think twice before(三思而后行) becoming a long-term creditor to Uncle Sam(山姆大叔（美国拟人化称呼）).
经济和地缘政治趋势也在损害对国债的需求。自2021年以来通胀的回升常常导致股票和政府债券同时抛售，这意味着国债已不再扮演高风险投资组合的稳定压舱石角色。与此同时，美国好斗的贸易政策及其反复使用金融制裁（无论其优劣）让外国买家在成为山姆大叔的长期债主前三思。
Breaking bonds
打破债券