Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who managed the 2008 financial crisis, has warned that the next one could be harder to stop and he wants a contingency plan for a potential collapse in demand for government bonds. His comments were made on Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week with David Westin. Paulson stressed the need for an emergency plan, which is targeted and short-term, ready to be ready when the government hits a wall. He also warned that a public debt crisis could become harder to respond to if confidence in government bonds begins to weaken. The national debt now stands at $38.9 trillion, making Paulson's warning a more ominous sign that the U.S. is now in a position where such a potential crisis is more likely than ever. The Treasury market is the backbone of the global financial system and any shock that sends yields sharply higher would impact all other asset classes.