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The Grant Williams Podcast

The End Game Ep. 57 - Harley Bassman PREVIEW

The Grant Williams Podcast

Grant Williams

Business, Business:investing, Investing

4.81.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the latest episode of The End Game, Fleck and I welcome back Harley Bassman—aka the ‘Convexity Maven’—for a deep dive into the shifting landscape of global bond markets, inflation, and the future of the US dollar. Harley contends that while US bond yields have risen sharply in recent years, they are now approaching fair value when measured against historical spreads and nominal GDP. The real challenge, he argues, lies in the rapid adjustment after decades of suppressed rates, and in how markets adapt to this new reality. Our discussion explores the profound impact of demographic trends, such as the early retirement of baby boomers and delayed household formation among millennials, as well as the often-underappreciated role of immigration in sustaining US economic growth. We also examine the risks associated with persistent fiscal deficits and mounting debt, as the potential erosion of the dollar’s reserve currency status presents a problem with potentially far-reaching consequences. Despite the scale of these challenges, Harley remains sanguine, suggesting that the system’s imbalances are more like slow-moving trains than imminent crashes. But, with heightened volatility and policy uncertainty likely to persist, diversified portfolios—including gold and inflation hedges—are prudent responses. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper, Silver and Gold Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com.  Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm… Gold Tier subscribers have access to my new series of in-depth video conversations, About Time.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Before we get going, here's the bit where I remind you that nothing we discussed should be considered as investment advice.

0:16.4

This conversation is for informational and hopefully entertainment purposes only.

0:20.2

So, while we hope you find

0:21.7

it both informative and entertaining, please do your own research or speak to a financial advisor

0:27.1

before putting a dime of your money into these crazy markets. You're about to listen to a

0:36.9

special preview edition of the End Game featuring my man, Bill Fleckenstein,

0:41.4

and our very special guest, Harley Bassman, of Simplify Asset Management.

0:45.9

We are about to talk about the bond market, because there's all kinds of stuff going on,

0:49.7

not just in the Treasury auctions, but also the Japanese JDB market.

0:53.7

And seeing us, the bond market has been a core focus of everything Bill and I have tried

0:58.7

to figure out during the end game.

0:59.8

It felt like a very good time to have Harley come and join us.

1:02.1

So without any further ado, here is our conversation with Harley Bassman.

1:06.1

Every episode of the Grand Williams podcast, including the end game, the super terrific

1:09.6

happy hour, the narrative game, this week in Doom, Ships Happen, Chaos Theory, and my new series of

1:13.7

Dimitri Kofenis, The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to copper and silver tier subscribers

1:17.9

at my website, grant dash williams.com. Copper tier subscribers get access to all the podcasts,

1:23.7

while members of the Silver Tier get both those podcasts and my monthly newsletter

1:27.7

things that make you go home.

1:29.7

So if you enjoy what here on the show

1:30.9

and you'd like more high-quality content like it,

1:34.0

make your way over to grant-dashwilliams.com

...

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