Bonds Embarking on 35-Year Rising Rates Cycle?

Interest rates follow very long-term cycles. This chart highlights a 35-year (1946-1981) bond market, but unlike our most recent-35 year (1981-2016) bond market, it was in a rising rate environment. Yields climbed from a low of 2% to a high of 16% over those 35 years. A series of labor strikes in 1946 (big ones, like when U.S. troops seized control of U.S. railroads during rail union strikes) pushed the American economy into an inflationary spiral so much so that inflation surged 20% that year, and with it yields broke out.