Japan faces a tough inflation-growth trade-off – and it’s not alone

Global bond markets are throwing a tantrum. On August 17, the yield on 30-year US Treasury bonds hit 5.3 per cent, its highest level since 2007 and up from 4.8 per cent as recently as June 29. The average yield on long-term debt across the Group of 7 advanced economies is the highest since 2008. Several factors are at play. One of them is the surge in longer-dated debt issued by leading technology companies as they ramp up capital spending on artificial intelligence (AI), especially data...