Three US government bonds, A, B and C, each with face value $1000, are currently selling in the market for prices of $938.97, $955.55 and $1001.68 respectively. Bond A is a zero-coupon bond with one...

Extracted text: Three US government bonds, A, B and C, each with face value $1000, are currently selling in the market for prices of $938.97, $955.55 and $1001.68 respectively. Bond A is a zero-coupon bond with one year to maturity, bond B has a coupon rate of 5% and two years to maturity and bond C has a coupon rate of 8% and three years to maturity? All coupons are paid annually. i. Infer the US spot rate curve from these data. ii. Give two possible explanations that might be used to explain why the curve takes the shape that it does.