Taper tantrum haunts Yellen as rate rise approaches

Washington

JANET Yellen is haunted by the taper tantrum as the Federal Reserve lays the groundwork for its first interest rate increase in almost a decade.

The Fed chair and her colleagues are fretting that bond yields near record lows could surge once the Fed starts raising rates, according to minutes of their April meeting released this week. Higher costs of everything from mortgages to car loans could result, potentially putting the fragile economic recovery at risk.

Ms Yellen has seen this movie before. In 2013, when then-chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the Fed could start tapering a …