Robin Wigglesworth: Why Bonds Are Behind Every Financial Boom and Bust

Today’s guest on The Long View is Robin Wigglesworth. Robin is the editor of the Financial Times finance blog, Alphaville. He’s also the author of Trillions, which is the definitive book on the past, present, and future of passive investing. Robin’s joining us today to discuss his latest book, A Fabulous Debt, which is a history of the bond market. The history of the bond market is marked by war, peace, market mania featuring a very colorful cast of characters, and so much more. Robin is such a brilliant writer that he really brings every aspect of a history to life. One of the highlights of the show was when he was talking about the huge amount of capital spending we’re seeing in artificial intelligence and how it parallels the railroad boom in the 19th century. He made the point that debt-fueled capital spending sprees tend to end quite badly, although the scale of capital investment in AI this time around is still quite a bit smaller. As Robin points out, history rarely repeats, but often rhymes, and we might be living through one of those rhyming moments today.Episode Highlights00:00:00 Why the History of Bond Market Matters00:09:38 Venice and the Birth of Bonds00:16:34 How Britain Shaped America’s Financial System00:24:48 The Poyais Bond Scam00:30:13 Railroad Capex and AI Spending00:37:08 Jay Cooke and The Father of Junk Bonds00:41:55 The Rise of Credit Ratings00:47:07 How Bond Markets Replaced Banks00:57:11 How Much Debt Can the US Carry?More From The Long ViewWade Pfau: Higher Bond Yields Are a Plus for Retirees Ben Carlson: Exploring Risk and Reward Jeremy Grantham: ‘Almost Everything Looks More Attractive Than the US Equity Market’ If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.