This article examines the performance of various financial variables as predictors of subsequent U.S. recessions. Series such as interest rates and spreads, stock prices, currencies, and monetary aggregates are evaluated singly and in comparison with other financial and non-financial indicators....

This article examines the performance of various financial variables as predictors of subsequent U.S. recessions. Series such as interest rates and spreads, stock prices, currencies, and monetary aggregates are evaluated singly and in comparison with other financial and non-financial indicators....

Since the 1980s, economists have argued that the slope of the yield curve - the spread between long- and short-term interest rates - is a good predictor of future economic activity. While much of the existing research has documented how consistently movements in the curve have signaled past...