The new year has awoken the bond market from its slumber. What began as a gradual climb in nominal yields from the summer accelerated in February with the yield on the US 10-year Treasury note briefly topping 1.6%, and significant moves higher globally including in Australia and the UK. Moves of this speed are rare, so we dedicated an ISG meeting to ask why global yield curves have steepened so quickly, when does a “good” rise in yields turn into a “bad” one and what the implications are for fixed income asset allocation.