First and foremost, ever-present low interest rates have squeezed bank profitability as measured by net interest margin, or the spread between what banks pay to borrow and what they're paid to lend.

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And keep in mind that while the spread between the two projections represents real money, it is margin-of-error stuff when it comes to the size of the federal budget and total health spending.

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The spread between short and long rates is effectively the gross operating profit margin banks can make on their next loans.

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