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Why Are Interest Rates So Low?

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In a recent series of blog posts, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Bernanke, has asked the question: 'Why are interest rates so low?' (See part 1, part 2, and part 3.) He refers, of course, to the fact that the U.S. government is able to borrow at an annualized rate of around 2 percent for ten years, or around 3 percent for thirty years. If you expect that inflation is going to be on average 2 percent over the next ten or thirty years, this implies that the U.S. government can borrow at real rates of interest between 0 and 1 percent at the ten- and thirty-year maturities. This phenomenon is by no means limited to the United States. Governments in Japan and Germany are able to borrow for ten years at nominal rates below 1 percent, and the ten-year yield on Swiss government debt is slightly negative. Why is that?

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  • Matthew Cocci & Marco Del Negro & Marc Giannoni & Sara Shahanaghi & Micah Smith, 2015. "Why Are Interest Rates So Low?," Liberty Street Economics 20150520, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednls:87032
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    Cited by:

    1. Neri, Stefano & Gerali, Andrea, 2019. "Natural rates across the Atlantic," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Olivier Blanchard & Lawrence H. Summers, 2019. "Ripensare le politiche macroeconomiche: evoluzione o rivoluzione? (Evolution or Revolution? Rethinking Macroeconomic Policy after the Great Recession)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 72(287), pages 171-195.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    low interest rates;

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets

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