The Yield Curve part 1

See if you can spot the flaw.

1.  Printing money lowers bond yields  More money chasing the same number of bonds means borrowers pay lower interest rates.

2.  Printing money raises bond yields.  More money pushes up prices of all goods, ie inflation, inflation reduces the real value of bonds pushing up rates.

How about

1.  Higher real rates of return increase savings.  Better yields mean the opportunity cost ratio of saving vs spending shifts towards saving.

2.  Higher real rates of return decrease savings.  Better yields means less money needs to be invested to hit retirement goals, leaving more for consumption.

Let's try empirically on the first count.

No obvious correlation between shifting the Fed Funds rate and inflation expectations. 

And no obvious correlation between 30 year mortgage rates.  Rather than post 10 more graphs let me just say that I see no obvious connection between inflation expectations or current inflation rates and bond rates, or changes in the monetary base or currency in circulation. 

At one point the term inflation meant "an increase in the money supply" and now it generally means "and increase in prices due to an increase in the money supply".  The only thing that this clarifies is that you can't get very far using definitions. 

**************

Going back to the yield curve, a couple of posts ago I criticized the claim that an inverted yield curve was a causal agent in creating recessions because it reduced the incentive to lend which caused a drop in lending which causes a drop in economic activity.  This doesn't make sense for a few reasons, first there isn't any evidence in 2006 of a drop in lending when the curve inverts, nor as it is narrowing.  Secondly a drop in lending should push the long term rates up preventing or at least pushing a reversion of the curve (obviously this won't happen if lending does dry up, but its a logical hole in the argument) and finally because recessions have tended to start after the curve has started reverting. 

The best correlation in terms of both timing and logical causal power for the 2007 recession is the delinquency rates for commercial and residential property. 

To preempt some arguments.

1.  "Of course delinquencies rose, people lost their jobs and couldn't make payments". 

Delinquency rates start to rise before the UR rate, and before GDP starts to fall. 

2.  "The Fed pushed up short term rates and that caused adjustable rate borrowers to not be able to afford the payments". 

The Fed raised rates from mid 2004 through mid 2006 and held them there until mid 2007 when the starting cutting.  Delinquencies start rising in 2007 so 3 years of higher rates didn't cause an increase, and the most common adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are 5 and 7 year lock ins, so those people wouldn't have been hit unless they took out their mortgages between 2000 and 2002.  Anyone who did so would have been a favorite to sell their house at a large profit in 2007 rather than default as prices would have risen.  Additionally long term rates only moved up about a point to a point and a half, meaning a refinance at that time or paying the higher rate shouldn't have been wildly onerous. 

Only really short term borrowing for houses, 1 or 2 year ARMs and interest only loans, should have been at risk for sudden defaults.  In other words bad lending standards.  Commercial properties are more complicated to investigate but the conclusions are roughly the same, places that couldn't make payments weren't failing to do so because of the Federal Funds rate increases.

You also have a decent correlation on the back end with the peak of commercial properties right at the end of the recession and the peak of housing coming 9 months later, and the decline in the UE rate going along with the declines in delinquency rates. 

Lets put the YC in with delinquency rates

I left the 2001 recession in to show that the rise in delinquency rates isn't a theme common to all recessions. 

We see again that delinquencies lead, but the time the Fed pushes the YC above zero in mid 2007 the delinquency rate has already hit 2.5%, a high for this chart.  This makes sense, the Fed is reactionary and isn't going to start lowering rates on a whim, it is going to wait until it sees something in the data that needs responding to. 

This is a longish and roundabout way to get to the conclusion that the YC reversion is not causal of the recession and that the Funds rate level changes are of limited importance for most recessions by this point.