Free Republic

U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday as recent selling pressure intensified following hawkish Federal Reserve commentary and stronger-than-expected economic data. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up more than 4 basis points to 5.209% after reaching its highest rate since June 2007 on Thursday. The 30-year Treasury bond was higher by more than 5 basis points at 5.516% after surging to levels not seen since 2004. The 2-year note yield was up less than 1 basis point at 4.897%. One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions. Investors also weighed a global bond...

It’s important to understand that SVB’s failure didn’t arise from risky startups doing risky startup things.It’s painful for me to watch so many smart pundits and politicians on both the right and the left buy into a media narrative that seeks to blame “wealthy speculators” or “tech bros” or venture capitalists for a banking crisis that ultimately started in Washington. Let me explain.If you want to understand the context for the crisis, look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair’s March 6 testimony — a week before Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse — where he explains that banks were sitting on...