44: Bonds, Budget, and Deficit: The State of US Financial Markets

A growing national debt. Interest payments that constrain the outlook on the U.S. government’s other fiscal priorities. Significant investments in artificial intelligence that could reshape the American economy. These are some of the challenges, in addition to rising costs, that face legislators and the public when it comes to the country’s finances. In this episode of “Baker Briefing”, recorded in front of a live studio audience, Ambassador David M. Satterfield talks to John W. Diamond, director of the Center for Tax and Budget Policy at the Baker Institute, about America’s fiscal future and the persistent problems facing policymakers today. 

This conversation was recorded on Sept. 15, 2026. The following day, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Two-Handed Economist, “Is America Saving the Yen — or the US Treasury Market?,” https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/america-saving-yen-or-us-treasury-market. 

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