In your own words, explain to your grandmother why the values of various government bonds go up when the interest rates in the U.S. economy drops. (5.3)
In your own words, explain to your grandmother why the values of various government bonds go up when the interest rates in the U.S. economy drops. (5.3)
Because the face value (what a bond is worth at maturity) of a bond and its interest payout are fixed, the trading price of a bond will increase as interest rates go down. This is because people are willing to pay more money for a bond to obtain the fixed interest rate in a declining interest rate market. For instance, if the bond pays 8 \% per year, people will pay more for the bond when interest rates in the economy drop from, for example, 6 \% to 5 \% per year.