Another day brings with it another indicator of economic meltdown - this time in the form of the yield spread of US corporate high-yield bonds over Treasuries, which has risen by the same margin that preceded the last three US recessions. But is it different this time?

The spread of US corporate high-yield, or junk, bonds has risen above seven percentage points over US Treasuries, a level that signalled the three previous recessions, according to Thomson Reuters.