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Revisiting the Interest Rate Effects of Federal Debt

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Abstract

This paper revisits the relationship between federal debt and interest rates. A common approach in the literature is to regress an expected interest rate on a projection of federal debt. We show that issues related to nonstationarity have become more pronounced over the last 20 years, raising significant concern about the reliability of estimates from this model. We argue that estimating the model in first differences rather than in levels addresses these concerns. Our preferred specification indicates that a 1 percentage point increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio raises the 5-year-ahead, 5-year Treasury rate by 3 basis points. About three-quarters of the increase in interest rates is driven by term premium rather than expected short-term real rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael D. Plante & Alexander W. Richter & Sarah Zubairy, 2025. "Revisiting the Interest Rate Effects of Federal Debt," Working Papers 2513, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddwp:99902
    DOI: 10.24149/wp2513
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fiscal policy; federal debt; federal deficit; interest rates; term premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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