But rather, because a nearly constant theme of her writing is change: how hard it is to recognize that things have changed; how hard it is to come to terms with it once recognized; how insistent people can be that surely, they will be OK. And given that introduction, I’m sure you have now guessed what I intend to talk to you about today: LIBOR, the benchmark formerly known as the London Interbank Offered Rate.
LIBOR was the principal benchmark used to set interest rates for a vast number of commercial loans, mortgages, securities, derivatives, and other products. For a number of years—certainly at least since July of 2017, and really for several years before—it has been clear that LIBOR would end, but some believed it was not clear exactly when LIBOR would end.