KNOWLEDGE CHECK Why did the corporate spread significantly widen during the 2008 market crash? Corporate bond issuers go bankrupt more frequently than governments, as they do not have a tax base to fall back on in hard times Corporate bonds went up as investors rotated out of equities into all forms of safer bonds Corporations were viewed as safer than governments; therefore, the corporate bonds went up and the government bonds went down A slowdown in economic activity led to fears of rising inflation. open/close chart.