FT’s Robin Wigglesworth: Why Bonds, Not Stocks, Rule Everything Around Us | #650

Today’s guest is Robin Wigglesworth, editor of FT Alphaville at the Financial Times and the author of A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World. In today’s episode, Robin makes the case that bonds, not stocks, are the bedrock of finance and quietly built the modern world. He explores the hidden plumbing beneath it, from the $12 trillion repo market to the leverage lurking in Treasuries, and why fixed income ETFs are rewiring how bonds trade. (0:00) Starts (2:39) Robin Wigglesworth on the strength of bonds (3:57) Political influence and origins of the bond market (8:09) Evolution, creditworthiness, and historical impacts of bonds (16:34) Memorable defaults, financial crises, and scams (20:04) Bond market innovations and securitization (23:52) Sovereign debt concerns (28:03) Stories, misconceptions, and recent bond market events (38:43) Innovations, future trends, and misunderstandings in income investments (43:33) The rise of private credit and liquidity risks ----- Sponsors: ⁠⁠ Upwork⁠⁠ is the world's largest human and AI-powered freelance marketplace to hire top talent—trusted by businesses and professionals worldwide. ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at [email protected] ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more.  ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here!  ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).