Investors fear another surge in inflation
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Finance & economics | Buttonwood<br>Investors fear another surge in inflation<br>So why aren’t more buying inflation-protected bonds?<br>Share
Illustration: Satoshi Kambayashi
May 19th 2026|4 min read
Convulsing bond markets mean different things to different people. If you run a government, it is plainly bad that government-borrowing costs are shooting up—as they are across the world. The yield on Japan’s 30-year debt has shot above 4%, its highest ever; America’s has topped 5%; Britain’s is chugging fitfully towards 6%. Since mortgage rates tend to move in line with these yields, anyone looking for a new one will also feel the pinch. For bond traders, in contrast, the past few weeks have been quite the thrill. A decade ago near-zero interest rates seemed to have permanently shoved their market into the deep freeze. Now it is red hot.
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