The US bond market is in its worst stretch in a century, which is bad news for anyone holding government debt and for a government that has to borrow trillions more.

• Treasury Secretary Bessent, who once called himself "the house," now admits he cannot control the bond market.
• Bond holders have lost money for a decade once inflation is counted, while gold has tripled.
• The cause is Washington's spending: US debt is now as big as the whole economy, and the Iran war keeps the bills coming.
• Over half the national debt has to be refinanced within three years at double or triple the old interest rates.
• France is the warning shot — its borrowing costs jumped sharply in three months and dragged the euro to a 17-month low.

Outlook: Either a hard slowdown pushes rates back down on its own or central banks print again and currencies pay the price, and Europe's own officials are already telling central banks to buy gold instead of bonds.