About Footnote Reader

Start with a question

Footnote Reader studies macroeconomics, corporate financing, and the links between capital and long-term interest rates. We ask what changed and through which mechanisms that change may affect markets.

Data before Narrative describes the order of the work. Establish where a number comes from, when it was observed, and what it measures before deciding which conclusions it supports. A persuasive story should withstand scrutiny against the original evidence.

Numbers need context

A rise in yields does not necessarily mean demand has disappeared. A higher bid-to-cover ratio does not mean investors are willing to accept lower returns. Apparently conflicting signals often answer different questions.

Our aim is to explain those distinctions: what has been observed, which transmission mechanisms are plausible, and which conclusions still require further evidence. Correlation and causation, expectations and realized outcomes, deserve separate treatment.

Follow a line of inquiry

Each article develops a central question using data and original sources. Research themes connect articles across time, allowing one observation to lead to the next instead of disappearing into a feed.

Social channels provide a place for discovery and discussion. The website preserves full articles and the questions that connect them. Chinese and English versions belong to the same underlying research; interface and reading-language preferences can be chosen separately.

Join the discussion

Questions about data definitions, original sources, and reasoning are welcome. Where an interpretation is uncertain or a correction may be needed, the evidence is the place to return to.

Our contact email is being set up. Once available, this page will provide the address and an email link.