Three battles are under way: Treasury borrowing vs. interest rates; slower economic decline vs. bottom; and banks vs. everybody else. Total Treasury new-cash borrowings this week and next: $171 billion, a tad high (the 2009 two-week average: $75 billion). The Fed on March 18 said it would buy $300 billion in Treasurys this year -- many thought in an effort to control Treasury interest rates, specifically holding the 10-year under 3 percent. Not so: the 10-year is trading at 3.16 percent today. By Lou Barnes, Friday, May 1, 2009. Inman News