Sir, – The widely reported tweet by investment fund supremo Bill Gross that the bond market "is a supernova that will explode one day" may have been dramatic, but it was incorrect ("Cantillon: just when will bond 'supernova' explode?", June 11th).
A supernova is not an object likely to explode at some future time: it is a star that is already in the process of exploding; the explosion is the supernova event.
What Mr Gross should have tweeted is that “the bond market is an accreting white dwarf star, approaching the point where a runaway carbon fusion reaction will be triggered”.
It is not as snappy, admittedly, but it does appropriately invoke the explosive consequences of a relentless flow of gas (or capital) into an unstable system. – Yours, etc,
Dr RAY BUTLER,
Centre for Astronomy,
National University
of Ireland, Galway.