The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury securities averaged 1.8% during 2012, the lowest levels in 60 years. But that episode may now be behind us.
The ECB’s OMT and the German Constitutional Court
The Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program undertaken by the ECB has been key in stabilizing sovereign yields in the euro area periphery. Helmut Siekmann and Volker Wieland have evaluated the (German) legal concerns surrounding the program, here.
Revisions in Expected Interest Rate Paths
There’s been a lot of discussion of upward movements in long term interest rates. I thought it useful to consider the revisions in expectations, over time, and in context.
It’s not just the Fed
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries has jumped 50 basis points since the start of May, leading some to speculate that the market is already starting to price in anticipation of an end to the Fed’s bond-buying program. There may be some truth to that, but it’s only part of the story.
IMF Article IV on the US: “deficit reduction in 2013 has been excessively rapid and ill-designed”
The IMF has just concluded its Article IV consultation with the US. The concluding statement observes:
Petition Signers Need Not Apply
Walker was for the nominee (for University of Wisconsin Board of Regents) before he was against him
Dispatches XXV: A Conjecture Regarding Lagging Employment in Wisconsin
Transvaginal probes (amended to mandated ultrasounds) and giving regressive tax cuts after slashing K-12 education expenditures probably isn’t going to draw high-technology/knowledge based workers to the state
Update on the Yield Curve
Rising Predictive Power?
The more you borrow, the more you’ll pay
A key reason to be concerned about high debt levels is very simple– you’re going to be stuck with the bill for the interest payments for the rest of your life.
Slow and Steady Employment Growth Continues
Plausible and Implausible Explanations for the lagging pace of growth