Information in the U.S. Treasury Term Structure of Interest Rates

Abstract

AbstractWe provide evidence of a significant change in the information content of the U.S. Treasury term structure of interest rates over the last 20 years. We apply a regression approach to measure the information in forward interest rates and introduce both a curve fitting method and an alternative data source. We find more information in the recent U.S. Treasury term structure about future interest rates than about expected holding period returns. These results document a significant departure from prior empirical findings.