Bloomberg Surveillance · Tuesday, September 15, 2026
George Noble criticized Federal Reserve official Scott Besson's actions in the bond market, likening him to former UK Chancellor Norman Lamont. Noble argued that Besson is defending an artificial price in the bond market that is not fundamentally justified, which he believes will lead to market attack and rising yields, similar to the situation that led to the Bank of England's troubles in 1991.
“As you know, I've been pretty outspoken about Scott Besson and what the Fed's trying to do. And on August 19th, when he said, oh, we're buying bonds, and we're going from $ 2 billion to $ 4 billion or $ 4 billion, whatever the number was, I said, no, this is a sign to short bonds, not buy bonds.”
“Scott Besson is the modern-day equivalent of Norman Lamont. This is the UK, 1991.”
“What got the Bank of England in trouble is when you defend an artificial price that's not justified by the fundamentals, the market attacks you. And that's what he's trying to do with our bond market right now.”