This is the second time in a week that we&#x27;re falling all over ourselves wondering why swaps are through Ts. It&#x27;s not hard: IRS is collateralized, Treasuries are not. With IRS every 3 (or 6) months, you have to cough LIBOR in order to receive the fixed leg. So essentially your maturity commitment is never greater than that, and indeed, for the vast majority of swaps receivers, mark-to-market collateral adjustments happen <i>daily</i>, so your credit risk is 24 hours! This is not the case for USTs where if you invest for 10 years, you have no clue for every single one of those 10 years if your principal will be repaid, and there is absolutely zero collateral adjustment. Why is this so hard for people to understand?<p>Ts are being printed without even the slightest regard for the (old-fashioned) concept known as fiscal rectitude. Swaps can be printed all day long but if the rates start moving you get paid&#x2F;have-to-pay every 24-hours for the assumed risk. It follows that Ts are now a much riskier bet than swaps, and indeed, what surprises me, is why it has taken so long for this to be happening.