Primarily this volume may be considered to be a financial history of the post-war decade, or at least a history of those financial forces which influence the course of the bond market. It studies movements in the bond market as part of the general economic mechanism, a point of view which involves consideration of Federal Reserve policy, the course of business activity, gold movements, the short-term money market, the stock market, and Treasury policy. Furthermore, it takes into account certain other elements that were important at particular times, such as the position of the United States on international accounts, the relations of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the psychological temper of the financial world. The movements of prices of first and second grade bonds and the changes in the volume of different kinds of new bond issues, such as refunding issues and corporate, foreign, municipal, and Federal government issues, are studied in detail.