1. Go to https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ and click on the "Category" link under the search box. Go to "Money, Banking, & Finance" and then "Interest Rates". Now click on "Corporate Bonds" and find the series "ICE BofA US High Yield Option-Adjusted Spread".

1. This series represents a risk premium on below investment-grade corporate debt instruments. In calculating a risk premium, what type of risk is being evaluated? To what type of debt instrument is the risk compared?

1. Click on "Max" for the graph's range and compare the behavior of this series during the 2001 recession and the 2008-2009 recession. What does your comparison suggest about the perception of risk that you identified in part abetween the two recessions?

1. Describe what happened to the risk premium between late-February and late-March of 2020. Now go tohttp://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/ and click on Economic Synopses. Find publication 2020, No. 7, named "COVID-19's Shock on Firms' Liquidity and Bankruptcy: Evidence from the Great Recession". Based on the conclusions of that article, what issues might explain the pattern of the risk premium during the month of March in 2020?