In fact, if one takes a longer view of real interest rates in the US, calculated by subtracting the previous year’s inflation from the nominal government bond yield, one finds that, while they are much lower than 20 years ago, they are not low by historical standards. The average real long-term government interest rate in 1891-1979 – a period ending just before Volcker oversaw soaring growth in borrowing costs – was a mere 1.25%, which is very close to the real long-term interest rate today.
实际上，如果我们从更长期的观点来考量美国的实际利率，将前一年的通胀从政府债券的实际收益中扣除，我们会发现虽然它们比20年前低了很多，但就历史标准而言却并不低。1891-1979年期间（在Volcker监察到借款成本急剧上升之前刚结束的这段时期）的平均实际长期政府利率仅为1.25%。这和现今的实际长期利率非常接近。