Scott Bessent often says he wants to be America’s “top bond salesman”. An accountant might raise an eyebrow(表示惊讶或怀疑), though, on encountering a salesman who juiced(夸大，美化（数据）) his figures by purchasing his own wares(商品，货物). On August 19th Mr Bessent set out plans for the Treasury to buy back tens of billions of dollars’ worth of long-dated(长期的（债券）) government debt.
斯科特·贝森特常说他想成为美国的“头号债券推销员”。然而，一位会计师若遇到一个通过购买自己产品来美化业绩的推销员，可能会皱起眉头。8月19日，贝森特先生公布了财政部回购数百亿美元长期政府债券的计划。
His announcement has had only a limited effect. But it has sent an important signal to markets: that the Treasury is willing to fight to hold yields(收益率) down, if they keep rising as they have in recent months. Yields fell at first, then edged back up and have since edged down again (see chart 1). The latest decline may reflect(反映，体现) reports that Mr Bessent is considering further buy-backs and funding them from the Treasury General Account, in effect(实际上，事实上) the government’s bank account at the Federal Reserve.
他的声明只产生了有限的影响。但向市场传递了一个重要信号：如果收益率像近几个月那样持续上升，财政部愿意努力压低收益率。收益率起初下跌，随后回升，之后又再次小幅下跌（见图表1）。最近的下跌可能反映出有报道称，贝森特先生正在考虑进一步回购，并从财政部总账户（实际上是政府在美联储的银行账户）提供资金。
This year yields on government bonds around the world have climbed(攀升，上涨) (ie, prices have fallen). High inflation had still not been entirely beaten back(被打退，被遏制) after the post-pandemic surge(激增，飙升) when America and Israel went to war with Iran in February, pushing up oil prices. Private borrowing to fund the vast build-out(大规模建设) of artificial-intelligence data centres has also made capital(资本，资金) costlier for everyone, including governments.
今年，世界各地的政府债券收益率攀升（即价格下跌）。在疫情后的飙升之后，高通胀尚未完全被打退，此时美国和以色列于2月与伊朗开战，推高了油价。为大规模建设人工智能数据中心而进行的私人借贷，也使得包括政府在内的所有人的资本成本更高。
I manage, you manipulate
我管理，你操纵
