Marketplace · Thursday, August 13, 2026
The U.S. government sold 30-year bonds at an auction today with an interest rate of 5.216%. This rate is the highest the government has paid on a newly issued 30-year bond in nearly 20 years, according to Greg Ipp of The Wall Street Journal. Higher rates mean increased interest payments for taxpayers on national debt.
“So, Kai, that is the interest rate that the government will be paying on 30-year bonds that were sold at auction today.”
“And the reason that matters, it's one of the highest rates, in fact, I believe it is the highest rate that the government has said that it will pay on a newly issued 30-year bond in almost 20 years.”
“And I suppose that as taxpayers, that's the kind of thing that's going to bother us because we owe have a lot of debt, and every time these rates go up, it means we have to pay even more interest to service that debt.”