Steven Mnuchin Plays It Ultra-Safe Instead of Going Ultra-Long
The Treasury listened to Wall Street dealers and decided against extending maturities to 50 or 100 years.
Not rocking the boat.
Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
After three years of will-he-or-won’t-he, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin officially decided that it’s not worth rocking the boat when it comes to financing the federal government.
The Treasury announced late Thursday that it would start issuing 20-year bonds in the first half of this year, bringing back the maturity for the first time since 1986. While it sounds like a big move to bring back an obligation that has been discontinued for more than three decades, it’s tame compared with the alternative. Mnuchin had long floated the idea of an “ultra-long” 50- or 100-year security, which has been issued by Argentina, many European countries and even some U.S. municipalities, companies and universities, but would have been unprecedented for the federal government.