Why governments are 'addicted' to debt | FT Film

Developed economies around the world are loaded up with debt. That was less of a problem in the era of free money but inflationary pressures are back and structurally-higher interest rates mean debt is more expensive to issue and service. Many investors have been warning that governments are addicted to debt for the past 20 years and the alarm bells are growing louder. This film examines what some are calling the biggest issue in global finance today, the role of the 'bond vigilantes', and whether government borrowing could spiral out of control. #markets #debt #borrowing #déficit #bonds #trading #investment #finance #investors #japan #us #donaldtrump #elonmusk #doge #uk #liztruss #rachelreeves #germany #friedrichmerz #china #italy #france #yields #bondvigilantes #bondmarket 00:00 Introduction 01:05 Why the world is 'addicted' to debt 03:27 Government bonds explained 04:11 The debt 'death spiral" 06:18 Where does the deficit go? 07:47 Inflationary pressures 09:59 Return of the 'bond vigilantes' 11:03 The UK's Liz Truss moment 12:39 America's unsustainable debt profiles 17:32 Japan's debt and its determined central bank 18:54 China's 'staggering' debt levels 19:50 Italy, France and Germany 22:49 A risk of a financial market 'heart attack' 24:51 Deficits 'can be useful' 27:12 The future ► Enjoying FT content? Get a daily slice of the very best FT journalism with FT Edit. Free for 30 days then just £4.99 a month See if you get the FT for free as a student (http://ft.com/schoolsarefree) or start a £1 trial: https://subs.ft.com/spa3_trial?segmentId=3d4ba81b-96bb-cef0-9ece-29efd6ef2132. ► Check out our Community tab for more stories: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes/community ► Listen to our podcasts: https://www.ft.com/podcasts ► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialtimes ► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@financialtimes