Figure 184 Below Shows Bond Yields on U

Essay

Figure 18.4 below shows bond yields on U.S., Japanese, and German 10-year bonds, 1997-2014. The gray shaded areas represent Japanese recession dates. During this period the U.S. had two official recessions: one in 2001 and one from 2008-2009. Given this information and what you know about Japanese and American debt-to-GDP ratios, explain the reason(s) for the differences in Japanese and American bond yields.Figure 18.4: Japan and USA 10-Year Bond Yields and Japanese Recession Dates: 1997-2014