Crows Outside

@Blogsbloke @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Correct.

@CrowsOutside @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Ok, so the “coupon” is the fixed rate of interest that the government agrees to pay the bond holder for the duration of the bond? And the government won’t pay the amount saved until the bond expires but someone else can buy the bond for cash at any time?

This bizarre Leftist tendency to anthropomorphise the markets, to treat them as if they had preferences and prejudices. The bond markets don’t care whether you are Left or Right. They don’t even care whether your spending is high or low. All they care about is whether it is in balance. If you want to borrow money, creditors will assess whether they will get it back, and will ask a premium to lend to risky prospects. That premium means that Britain is now spending £110 billion a year on servicing past debt – more than on education, and twice as much as on defence.

@Blogsbloke @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Almost 👍 You can sell your Gilt at any time. Yes, the coupon is fixed for the duration of the gilt.

@CrowsOutside @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Ok, I’m reading the article. A lot to digest. But I think get the essential. It’s like a savings account. You get paid interest but you can’t access the actual money you’ve saved until the term of the bond expires? Is the interest rate fixed for the duration of the bond?

@Blogsbloke @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Ok, the price paid is, erm, the £s/reserves handed over to gain ownership of the instrument in the same way you buy anything else. The coupon, normally expressed as a %, is the amount govt will pay the holder for holding the gilt - think of interest on your savings account.

@CrowsOutside @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Ok, can you explain as if I’m five? What is the “price paid” and what is the “coupon” ?

@Blogsbloke @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Simple enough: yields are a function of the price paid and the coupon.

@razaobaid @CrowsOutside @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland That’s an interpretation of the political consequences of gilts. If possible I would like to know your understanding of what a gilt yield actually is?

@Blogsbloke @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland The article explains. They are the equivalent of a guaranteed savings account. Their primary use is, via the cash management process, to drain excess reserves injected earlier by govt ops. Issuance is a policy choice.

@CrowsOutside @razaobaid @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Yes, before we get into the political implications of gilts I’d like first to make sure I understand what they actually are?

@DanielJHannan Fella ☝️ is, yet again, confusing a currency issuer with currency users 🤦

Shock therapy doing what it’s designed to achieve: creating a valley of tears for workers and industries.

@razaobaid @Blogsbloke @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland That, my friend, is propaganda. The only control Gilt markets over govt is limited by govt. If it chooses to point and say "we can't anger the gilt market", it's giving it power it doesn't have.

@Blogsbloke @CrowsOutside @freddienew @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland It’s a way of controlling govts with no accountability. Control is the key but getting paid is the benefit. Govts issue gilts but the same people buy them. The same people then get a say on what the govt can & can’t do.

@razaobaid @freddienew @Blogsbloke @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland It's not so crazy when you realise people are literally propagandised 24/7/365 (366 in a leap year).

@CrowsOutside @freddienew @Blogsbloke @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland It’s crazy how people are brainwashed in to believing what is has always been.

@Blogsbloke @freddienew @razaobaid @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland I'm always up for a polite, good faith chat on this subject. Here's a good explainer: gimms.org.uk/fact-sheets/gi…

@CrowsOutside @freddienew @razaobaid @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Ok, I’m genuinely interested in this. If folk are willing for polite good faith chat I’d like to hear different opinions on firstly, what exactly is the yield on gilts, what drives it up and down and why it matters?

@Vectis64 @xPeru @DanielJHannan Under current legislation the risk is zero.

@xPeru @DanielJHannan You make a very good point although I’d suggest it’s not an either/or. The risk of default is very very low for the UK vs many other countries but it’s not zero.

@freddienew @razaobaid @Blogsbloke @DanielJHannan @hmtreasury @bankofengland Freddie thinks the UK govt, the monopoly issuer of £s, has to somehow borrow £s from the private sector. Don't be like Freddie.

@razaobaid @Blogsbloke @DanielJHannan Cool cool - why don't you tag @hmtreasury and @bankofengland? Am sure they will fall over themselves to follow your advice and we'll stop borrowing money from bond purchasers in a couple of weeks!

@MerrynSW @MikeJoseph99 Splendid idea! I assume Lesson One will cover the essential basics: the UK government is not a household, taxation does not mechanically “fund” spending, and gilt issuance is not the state rummaging around for money it lacks. Or will you save that for the advanced class?

@mig23477526 @ArmstrongT97969 @RichardJMurphy Lol, fuck off 🤖

@CrowsOutside @ArmstrongT97969 @RichardJMurphy The uk government is the monopoly issuer of notes and coins but this makes up a mere 3% of the money supply. Can you tell us, by way of disproving your own ignorance, where the rest of the money comes from? Take your time.

We keep being told that bond markets may veto democratic choices, but that is not fiscal responsibility: it is the normalisation of financial power over elected government. The real question is who democracy is meant to serve. Is it people or money? theguardian.com/business/2026/…

@alisterrobson @ConnorMOT92 I'd take him too but he's on the verge of taking Bournemouth yeah, Bournemouth, to European competition so do you really think he's going to have his head turned by a second season pl club?

@CrowsOutside @ConnorMOT92 I’d take Areola.

Really strange that Farke is talking like he’s leaving. #LUFC

@ProfHall1955 Here's my new meme:

@alisterrobson @ConnorMOT92 If he does leave, who do think will be coming in?

@ConnorMOT92 Best for all if he is. Let’s hope we can get a fee out of Norwich

@d_magpie @afneil @sdgrumbine Helps what?

@CrowsOutside @afneil @sdgrumbine I can assure you it isn’t genuinely felt hope if that helps

British politics will reach a new reductio ad absurdum in the Makerfield by election: Vote Labour to destroy the sitting Labour Prime Minister. Support Labour PM Starmer but NOT voting Labour. We are having a by-election not because there’s any demand or need in the national interest but entirely to suit the convenience of the byzantine politics of the ruling party and the political pygmies in whose interest it is run. We are no longer a serious nation. No wonder the bond markets are squiffy.

@d_magpie @afneil I genuinely wish I wasn't. Not pointing any fingers and I'd never denigrate anyone's efforts but ... I once had a brief exchange with @sdgrumbine about why, in his experience, so many smart people in the MMT space don't see the real problem. He said "hope". I agree.

@CrowsOutside @afneil You’re most likely right there We can always hope against expectation

@MerrickLangston @RichardJMurphy Cheeky!

@RichardJMurphy It's a wonder the bond markets allowed us to create the NHS after WW2.