Junk Bonds

The junk bond, the fastest growing financial instrument of the 1980s, as been linked to all that is wrong with Wall Street. But in Junk Bonds, economist Glenn Yago argues that, despite the bad press, these high yield securities are still one of the most efficient and equitable ways for American companies to finance their futures. Yago points out that, before junk bonds, conservative investors like insurance companies, pension funds, and bank trust departments placed their capital primarily in investment-grade securities--and only five percent of the American companies with sales over $35 million qualify to issue investment grade bonds. In effect, ninety-five percent of the nation's mid-sized firms were frozen out of the public debt market. Junk bonds changed all that. In addition, Yago argues that the much-maligned divestitures associated with junk bond-funded buyouts were not necessarily destructive; many sold-off units, he writes, flourished under new management structures. Yago concludes that we have witnessed a fundamental restructuring of corporate America, made possible in part by high yield financing. The result is a bright future as American businesses return to productivity and competitiveness, one that will benefit managers, stockholders, and workers alike.