Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s announcement in May that the Fed would soon start reducing its asset purchases and end QE in 2014 caused long-term interest rates to jump immediately. Although Bernanke’s announcement has focused markets on exactly when this “tapering” will begin and how rapidly it will proceed, these decisions will not affect the increased level of rates a year or two from now.
过去几年来，美联储的买入超大量美国国债和其他资产的“非常规货币政策”——即所谓的“量化宽松”（QE）——以及在相当长的时间内维持短期利率低位导致长期债券利率一直处于反常的低水平。5月，美联储主席伯南克宣布美联储很快就将开始减少资产购买量并将于2014年退出QE，这使长期利率应声上涨。尽管伯南克的表态让市场关注“逐渐减少”将于何时开始以及将以何种速度实行，但这些决定不会影响未来一两年已经上升的利率水平。