Why the 30-year bond matters

Last week, the U.S. Treasury held an auction for 30-year bonds. Some were worried no one would show up to buy these things! That didn't happen, but the 'long bond' isn't exactly thriving at the moment. Today on the show, we look back at why we have such a long maturity bond and why it might be a good idea to start paying attention to it going forward.<br /><br /><strong>Related episodes:<br /></strong>Bond market nightmares (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indicator-from-planet-money/id1320118593?i=1000708517215" target="_blank">Apple</a> / <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gFHh6SiKV7FfSORLiRwTj?si=5ca6347b17e44bc2" target="_blank">Spotify</a>)<br />Bond vigilantes. Who they are, what they want, and how you'll know they're coming (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indicator-from-planet-money/id1320118593?i=1000677698392" target="_blank">Apple</a> / <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/45CAxDNa0GLOaWWqcMfvwh?si=14f0ea222f554721" target="_blank">Spotify</a>)<br />Trying to solve the mystery of big bond yields (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indicator-from-planet-money/id1320118593?i=1000633406306" target="_blank">Apple</a> / <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/35oxyM1vMGxWBJYCSogBME?si=1dd889045f654163" target="_blank">Spotify</a>)<br /><br /><em>For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at </em><a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank"><em>plus.npr.org</em></a><em>.<br /><br />Fact-checking by </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-26724/sierra-juarez" target="_blank"><em>Sierra Juarez</em></a><em>. Music by </em><a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><em>Drop Electric</em></a><em>. Find us: </em><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney" target="_blank"><em>TikTok</em></a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/" target="_blank"><em>Instagram</em></a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money" target="_blank"><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>. </em><br /><br />See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>