Image:  Richard II meets the rebels calling for economic and political reform during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381  Jean Froissart - Bibliothèque nationale de France

Charles Read, The Economist, in re: Secular stagnation — which goes back at least to the Fourteenth Century: rates have been falling since then, the birth of capitalism. The “real” rate of return is adjusted for inflation.  Ergo, real interest rates have been declining for seven hundred years.  . . .  Central bankers use interest rates as their main policy tool: cut to stimulate; and when the economy is growing too fast, it raises interest rates.  Interest rates at zero: the tool becomes unusable.  BofE went to 0.5%  . . . need to find other mans of control.