Today’s ultra-low interest rates are anything but ‘natural’

Policymakers who have cut rates repeatedly should not be let off the hook so easily

"...central banks have cut interest rates at an unprecedented pace. A common view is that economic and demographic factors are forcing central bankers to move in this direction. This is a misunderstanding. Policymakers should not be let off the hook that easily...

...there is nothing natural about the fall in rates that we have seen in much of the developed world since the 1980s. The US, for one, has seen rate cuts with each crisis since the stock market crash of October 1987.

Between crises, rates have been raised a little, before being slashed again to new lows. This pattern appears to follow a political imperative of avoiding market downturns and recessions. That is anything but natural."

Full gated version [here].(https://www.ft.com/content/c4e10d2c-109a-40f5-a175-628d1db9c793)