Allison Schrager, Columnist

The Dearth-of-Safe-Assets Era Is Over

Why a glut of Treasuries and other "risk-free" investments could be an even bigger problem for the economy.

July 26, 2021 at 10:30 AM UTC

Allison Schrager is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering economics. A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, she is author of “An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen could face bigger problems from a glut of safe-assets.
Photographer: Shawn Thew/AFP via Getty Images

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The safe-asset shortage is over. Should we worry?

A safe asset is any asset that you can sell at any time and be sure to get your money back. That often means short-term government treasuries or bank deposits. Hence, when demand for government-issued securities outstripped supply, economists called it the “safe-asset shortage.”