In Other News · United States · Markets

Source: Axios

The good news about the epic shifts in global bond markets is that they mostly reflect economic fundamentals, not the kinds of panicky swings seen in a crisis.The bad news is that there's a risk the disruptions metastasize into a broader crisis in an era of fractured politics across major democracies.The big picture: Turmoil in the streets this week in France is the latest sign of hazards that await elected leaders who try to address yawning fiscal deficits head-on.They are squeezed between voters who want to maintain public benefit levels and tax levels and a bond market that is resetting long-term interest rates higher — meaning that carrying on with wide deficits will come at a greater and greater cost to service debt.That's why even what has been a relatively orderly repricing so far carries risks that are bigger than just high mortgage or corporate borrowing rates.Driving the news: The relentless upward march of bond yields continued Wednesday morning. The French 10-year yield soared 0.18 percentage point, to 4.93%.French yields are also surging relative to other countries that use the euro, especially Germany — the kind of fragmentation seen in the eurozone debt crisis of the early 2010s that originated in...