Economists Peter Schiff and Mohamed El-Erian say the Treasury Department's move to double its bond buybacks may already be unraveling, as the 30-year yield reverses higher just a day after falling on the announcement.
The Intervention Made Things Worse "Now that the Trump Administration has panicked by announcing a Treasury bailout, investors who hadn't yet realized there was a problem will get the message and start selling," Schiff said on X.
He added that if Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believed the bond market already had a problem, "sounding the alarm made the problem much worse." Now that the Trump Administration has panicked by announcing a Treasury bailout, investors who hadn't yet realized there was a problem will get the message and start selling.
If Bessent thought we had a bond market problem before, sounding the alarm made the problem much worse.— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) August 20, 2026 The Treasury Department announced Wednesday it would at least double its liquidity-support buybacks for long-dated bonds, from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation, sending the 30-year yield down to around 5.19% before it climbed back to as high as 5.27% by Thursday.
El-Erian said the reversal in 30-year yields wasn't surprising in itself, given how short-term the effects of announcements like the Treasury's tend to be.
