The 10-year Treasury yield is one of the most watched market and macro indicators. For example, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan watched the yield regularly. Once he sees the yield, he immediately knows what’s going on with the US economy.

Today (July 23, 2012), the yield reads 1.43%. In the last couple of months, with European situation not getting better, and the US recovery seeming to falter again (for the consecutive three years), the yield has remained at historical low level around lower 140 bps.

To put this into historical perspective, according to the research by Bank of America /Merrill Lynch, this is the lowest level since 1790, lower than the yields after the WWII, more than ten years after the Great Depression. See the chart below.

At this depressed level, it seems to indicate the US economy will remain subpar for many years to come – another Japan?