James Carville, the political advisor who coined the phrase ‘it’s the economy stupid’ as a campaigning slogan for Democrat Bill Clinton to win the 1992 presidential election, was once asked what he’d like to be reincarnated as. “The bond market,” he replied, “it can intimidate anyone.” 9 April 2025 will be remembered as the day that proved that ‘anyone’ includes current US President Donald Trump.
Traditionally, when stock markets are falling, government debt or bond markets go up, as investors search for safe havens. This is particularly true of US government debt given the US’s dominance of the world financial system. In the first days after ‘Liberation Day’ that was what happened, but then the US bond markets suffered the steepest fall in four decades. Even more alarming, the price of gold – traditionally the safest haven of all – also started to fall. This was an indication that the whole global financial system was in danger of freezing up. Investors were selling whatever they could. A new global financial crisis was on the cards – probably on an even bigger scale than the one that triggered the Great Recession of 2008-09.
The article continues and gives a marxist analysis of economic and geo political power.
Written by:
Hannah Sell, Socialist Party general secretary