US bond yield at 5% means pain heading everyone's way

A rising Treasury yield affects broader markets, including car loans, overdrafts, public borrowing, and the cost of funding a corporate takeover

- CHRIS ANSTEY, THYAGARAJU ADINARAYAN & JACK SIDDERS

Not so long ago, families, businesses and governments were effectively living in a world of free money.

The US Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate was zero, while central banks in Europe and Asia even ran negative rates to stimulate economic growth after the financial crisis and through the pandemic.

Those days now look to be over and everything from housing to mergers and acquisitions are being upended, especially after 30-year US Treasury bond yields this week punched through 5 per cent for the first time since 2007.