Episode 147[2/2]: Brian Romanchuk: The secondary market through the eyes of a bond analyst

Activist #MMT - podcast

Welcome to episode 147 of Activist #MMT. Today's the second in my two-part conversation with author, mathematician, and bond analyst Brian Romanchuk (Twitter/RomanchukBrian), on the basics of the secondary market and how it relates to the primary market. Today in part two, Brian continues describing the participants in the secondary market, why they do what they do, and shares several anecdotes from his many years of experience as a bond analyst for fixed income recipients in Canada.

A fuller introduction can be found before part one. But for now, let's get right back to my conversation with Brian Romanchuk. Enjoy.

A fuller introduction can be found at the beginning of part one, but for now, let's get right back to my conversation with Brian Romanchuk. Enjoy.

Audio chapters

• 4:03 - The internet allows you to do a large quantity of small transactions BUT everyone can see it (it's publicly viewable)
• 4:47 - "Reallocation between bonds and equities."
• 8:19 - What is the population of who purchases bonds?
• 26:24 - The rich don't just buy bonds themselves, as individuals.
• 28:22 - Municipal bonds don't play a large role in the macro economy
• 30:01 - Z-1 document from the Federal Reserve
• 32:11 - Who exactly are the supposed bond vigilantes? (The really powerful bond purchasers would never say anything publicly. It would be a breach of their fiduciary duty! Anyone talking on the news is only talking for themselves.)
• 33:57 - The most important players keep their mouth shut
• 36:07 - Speaking publicly is marketing and manipulation
• 41:40 - Anthropomorphic
• 45:08 - What people say, when not under legal obligation to be truthful, is sometimes manipulation and marketing.
• 49:03 - Reasonable people know the national government isn't really going to default
• 55:28 - Bringing it back to the beginning: The three core reasons why the government, not the market, is in control
• 58:47 - How would everything we've discussed change is we lived in a ZIRP world?
• 1:03:12 - ZIRP is bad only in the sense that
• 1:15:15 - Duplicate of introduction, with no background music (for those with sensitive ears)