America’s 4th Branch of Government: The Bond Market and Geopolitics
In-person, Members-only
Thursday, October 16, 2025| 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
When people think of the economy, they usually think of the Federal Reserve, because that’s what makes headlines every day—interest rates, Powell’s speeches, and policy announcements. But behind the Fed is the far larger and more powerful bond market, where governments, corporations, and cities borrow money from global investors. This market quietly determines how much it costs countries to fund wars, build infrastructure, or recover from crises, making it one of the most influential forces in global affairs. Some even call it America’s “fourth branch of government” because of its power to shape and constrain policy. How do bond market and geopolitics intertwine with each other? What happens when a superpower like the U.S. loses its top credit rating? Could it go lower? What is the role of credit agencies and how much power do they hold over geopolitics and policies? And can foreign financiers who hold a nation’s debt indirectly shape its political choices?
Join us on Thursday, October 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM ET for a conversation with Ann Rutledge, Founding Principal & CEO of Creditspectrum Corp/R&R Consulting to discuss the hidden power of the bond market and its implications for geopolitics.
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SPEAKER:
Ann Rutledge
Ann Rutledge is a founding principal of the 20-year-old credit ratings/advisory firm CreditSpectrum Corp. and noted subject-matter expert in these topics: capital market developments of the late 20th Century, financial system development in China since the Third Plenum/11th Central Committee (1978), and ABS structuring, credit and damages analysis, valuation and revaluation.
Widely recognized for her ability to explain complex concepts simply, Rutledge testified before the U.S. Senate on The State of the Securitization Markets and was quoted in the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Financial Crisis Inquiry Report. In 2015, Ms. Rutledge published a landmark study on China’s ABS markets, Who Will Take the Lead in Shaping China’s Securitization Market Model, funded by Swift Institute, and in 2014 published A Real Fix for Credit Ratings through Brookings Institution. Rutledge authored the chapter on real estate securitization in Elsevier’s International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home 2011 and the chapter on microloan securitization Mobilizing Capital for Emerging Markets: What Can Structured Finance Contribute, by Springer (2007). With Sylvain Raynes, she co-wrote Elements of Structured Finance (2010) and The Analysis of Structured Securities (2003) both by Oxford University Press. She has taught graduate-level securitization courses at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Rutledge has an MBA from the Booth School of Business, the University of Chicago, and a BA from Wellesley College.
THIS SESSION IS FREE FOR NETWORK 20/20’s MEMBERS
NOT YET A NETWORK 20/20 MEMBER?
Apply today to enjoy all exclusive briefings with high-profile speakers
Image credit: Image by Arthur A from Unsplash
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