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SERIOUS MONEY:JAMES CARVILLE, the political strategist behind Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, once quipped: “I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or a .400 baseball hitter. But now I want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everyone.”, writes CHARLIE FELL

The market for public debt securities has determined the fate of nations since the republic of Venice issued the first tradable bonds in 1171. The Venetian issue of interest- bearing debt enabled the city state to finance war without having to resort to high taxes that would have crippled the local economy. The subsequent consolidation of the republic’s position as a maritime commercial giant owed as much to its ability to issue transferable debt securities as to its military prowess.