Oct 5, 2026 · 44 min · 29 segments
Treasury yields remain near multi-year highs, but the latest market signals do not yet point to a full-blown fiscal crisis. Chuck Zodda and Mike Armstrong discuss why rising Treasury yields have…
What is the fiscal apocalypse? So th- this is the first thing that you need to understand.
When we talk about the fiscal apocalypse, we're not talking about, like a financial crisis, we're not talking about a recession.
Uh, specifically, we are talking about the idea of a debt spiral where, hey, as the amount of debt goes up, it ends up resulting in higher interest costs, which then result in more debt, which there's not enough buyers for, which results in higher interest costs, and it, it spirals.
And I do agree with the first premise, uh, here, before the, uh, the em dash that's in the title.
You don't need to say the yet piece, okay? Because yet implies that you're going to, by definition, see a fiscal apocalypse at some point, which I don't know that those facts are in evidence.
Those of you who have listened to our show for more than, you know, the last five minutes know that we generally have talked about, hey, no one is serious about reining in the debt, and no one has been for 30 years.
We've talked about this a lot the last month or so, 'cause it, it's one of, like the two things everyone wants to talk about now is, like, "Hey, is, like, the US debt going off the rails, and is AI gonna kill us?" We only like to talk about the bad things, I, I guess, in, in this world.
But our answer on, on one of them at least is we're fine for, for, for the moment.
What is the fiscal apocalypse? So th- this is the first thing that you need to understand.
When we talk about the fiscal apocalypse, we're not talking about, like a financial crisis, we're not talking about a recession.
Uh, specifically, we are talking about the idea of a debt spiral where, hey, as the amount of debt goes up, it ends up resulting in higher interest costs, which then result in more debt, which there's not enough buyers for, which results in higher interest costs, and it, it spirals.
And I do agree with the first premise, uh, here, before the, uh, the em dash that's in the title.
You don't need to say the yet piece, okay? Because yet implies that you're going to, by definition, see a fiscal apocalypse at some point, which I don't know that those facts are in evidence.
Those of you who have listened to our show for more than, you know, the last five minutes know that we generally have talked about, hey, no one is serious about reining in the debt, and no one has been for 30 years.
We've talked about this a lot the last month or so, 'cause it, it's one of, like the two things everyone wants to talk about now is, like, "Hey, is, like, the US debt going off the rails, and is AI gonna kill us?" We only like to talk about the bad things, I, I guess, in, in this world.
But our answer on, on one of them at least is we're fine for, for, for the moment.
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