The market for U.S. Treasury securities is a marvel of modern finance. In 2009 the Treasury auctioned #8.2 trillion of new securities, ranging from 4-day bills to 30-year bonds, in 283 offerings on 171 different days. By contrast, in the decade before World War I, there was only about #1 billion of interest-bearing Treasury debt outstanding, spread out over just six issues. New offerings were r…