Nathan Gower

I was in a meeting where the chart in the Budget showed they were missing the rule. Gordon asked if they could just make the line fatter, so it appeared to meet the axis.. and a certain SPAD (now with a popular podcast) responded "well yes, but we did that last time... there are limits" 🤣

Currently - Of Budgets and Bond Markets - BBC Sounds Duncan Weldon explores the political and economic reality of relying on the bond markets.

Boy, I sure wish someone would make a radio documentary about how budgets and bond markets interact, eh, @duncanweldon.bsky.social?

Oh wait:

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

(From April this year)

Bank of England getting out of the bond-buying game as it announces plans to drop a seminal prog rock album.

The Briefing Room - Is there a crash coming? - BBC Sounds Could an AI bubble or so-called ‘shadow banking’ threaten the global economy?

Discussing the prospects of a financial crash was so fun, we made an extended podcast cut.

Very happy with this episode of the Briefing Room I produced this week, though almost all the credit goes to our excellent guests, @katie0martin.ft.com, @duncanweldon.bsky.social and Simon French.

2-in-5 men die prematurely according to charity Movember, but what exactly do they mean?

It was great to be able to join Tim Harford and the 'More or Less' team on BBC Radio4 this morning to discuss life expectancy statistics and what they really mean.

This one may not mean what you think it does!

We definitely used ours in the mid 90s, but for some reason the climbing rope smelt like sneezes.

Some superb details in the Guardian review of Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography.

My money's on Julia Roberts.

One polling company asks people whether they're qualified to pilot a nuclear submarine as a similar gatekeeping exercise.

Once again the implausibly hunky Eric Whitacre crashes my timeline.

if you’re curious, the 6.30pm slot on radio 4 attracts about 1.5m listeners

Personally, I'm finding that summer is a great time time to be on paternity leave.

Super cool, super #blessed

Thanks to the super cool bond nerds for letting me hang out with them for a few weeks.

I can breathe now.

This is on on Radio 4 in ten minutes.

Some classic Easter-themed bond market content for you.

But seriously, if you want to learn about how the financial markets that the government leans on for its spending plans add up actually work, and the consequences for our public finances, listen in!

Really enjoying Tom Service live from Iona on Radio 3. Part of more excellent seasonal programming on Radio 3. Really brings these holidays to life, and like the best live radio utterly roots you in a place.

BBC Radio 4 - Currently, Of Budgets and Bond Markets Duncan Weldon explores the political and economic reality of relying on the bond markets.

Reminder: this is on Sunday.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Not a podcast specifically, a Radio documentary called 'Of Budgets and Bond Markets', goes out on Radio 4 Sunday 20th of April at 1:30, available to download on BBC Sounds at that point.

We figured the situation needed a bit more tempting fate.

Just tied up my Radio 4 documentary about the relationship of the bond market to government finances with @duncanweldon.bsky.social with a week to go before broadcast.

Now to see just how bombproof we managed to make it.

Do we... believe these figures, given recent ONS issues with some GDP relevant stats?

I have a nitpick about the bond vigilantes claim — it was systemic stress/deleveraging that happened to wreak havoc in global bond markets this week that forced the issue, not some discretionary fundamental repricing of government long bonds.

V sharp moves in US govt bonds.
There’s an easy narrative that this is the markets losing faith in the US. That would be a nice mortality tale. But the reality is probably more concerning in the short term.
The market could well be breaking because of structural issues in how it trades & volatility.

Unhedged has been particularly good in this latest period of chaos, and it is (worryingly) becoming increasingly essential listening for everyone.

That 5D chess plan to bring down yields in full.

That's the front line!

Sure, I want to learn about the feasibility of an annual wealth tax, but ONLY if it's in a programme that uses Enter Sandman in a critique of Keir Starmer's claims on the economy.

What's that? Tomorrow morning's episode of More or Less does BOTH of those things?

Having your currency best charted with a log-scale is just such an awful place to be.

I said it was specific...