Data table

$($Click on the icon here

in order to copy the contents of the data table below

into a spreadsheet.$)$ maturities.

a$.$ Approximately what real interest rate do Treasury securities offer investors at each maturity?

b$.$ If the nominal rate of interest paid by every Treasury security suddenly dropped by $1\mathrm{.}5\%$ without any change in inflationary expectations, what effect, if any, would this have on your answers in part a$?$

c$.$ Using your findings in part a$,$ select the appropriate yield curve for U$.$S$.$ Treasury securities$.$ Describe the general shape and expectations reflected by the curve.

d$.$ What would a follower of the liquidity preference theory say about how the preferences of lenders and borrowers tend to affect the shape of the yield curve in part c$?$

e$.$ What would a follower of the market segmentation theory say about the supply and demand for long$-$term loans versus the supply and demand for short$-$term loans given the yield curve in part c$?$

a$.$ The real rate of interest on the $3-$month U$.$S$.$ Treasury bill is

$\%.($Round to one decimal place.$)$