Volatility in the bond markets across the world, but especially in the United States, has grabbed the attention of the media and policymakers in recent months. We sat down with Carmen Reinhart, the Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System at Harvard Kennedy School, to better understand what the markets are responding to and how their fluctuations can be understood. Reinhart, an affiliate of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government and the Harvard Center for International Development, is an expert on financial crises and sovereign debt. She has served as the senior vice president and chief economist at The World Bank Group, chief economist at Bear Stearns, policy advisor and deputy director at the International Monetary Fund, and member of the advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Congressional Budget Office panel of economic advisors. […]