Bonds: Has the debt become too big?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 13 January 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The power of the global bond market seems to have grown in recent years, to the extent that it can now dictate government policy and even topple political leaders. How much clout do the debt markets actually have and should they be reined in?
Many rich nations are more indebted than they have ever been in modern times, meaning that some are spending more simply on servicing their debt than on schools, hospitals or military defence.
In the second of two programmes on the bond market, we ask, how sustainable is that debt and should we be worried about it?
If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Ed Butler Producer: Gideon Long
(Photo: A view of financial buildings in the City of London. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.7 | Hi there, I'm Ed Butler. |
| 0:08.5 | Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.8 | Today, in the second of our programmes, looking at the global bond market, |
| 0:16.1 | we're assessing how countries manage their debt levels and what a lot of debt there is. |
| 0:21.7 | The debt burden is now larger than at any point since World War II |
| 0:25.9 | and by a number of measures it's actually exceeding what happened during World War II. |
| 0:30.3 | And that creates really big challenges. |
| 0:32.2 | The mountain of debt isn't just high. |
| 0:34.3 | The amount of interest in debted governments are having to pay on those loans |
| 0:38.1 | has spiked as well in recent years. Is the bond market holding governments holding us all to ransom? |
| 0:45.1 | This idea that bond markets are in charge and if they throw a big tantrum and that forces a |
| 0:50.9 | government to then betray the commitment it has made, that is a problem. |
| 0:55.7 | Do we have a problem with bombs? |
| 0:57.8 | That's Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:05.1 | It's October, Prime Minister. |
| 1:06.9 | And after unveiling what had been seen as a disastrous mini-budget to launch her premiership, |
| 1:13.7 | reporters are watching the British Prime Minister Liz Truss's every move. |
| 1:18.2 | Is this your last Prime Minister's questions? Is it time to resign? |
| 1:22.8 | Liz Truss had cut taxes and increased borrowing without explaining how it would be paid for. |
| 1:29.3 | Luke Hickmore is a leading bond trader with Aberdeen investment. It's one of the UK's biggest |
| 1:34.1 | traders in government bonds or gilts, as they're also known. Liz Trust focused on growth. |
... |
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