I agree that low interest rates in the 1930s "took forever" (Doug) to work their stimulus. But the 1930s was the Great Depression (an example of "context") and the mortgage and consumer credit markets were very undeveloped and Federal deficits were not really a factor. Apples and oranges. In the 1990s, it did take a little while for lower rates to do their work. A rule of thumb is that it's not worth refinancing unless mortgage rates are two percent below the rate you're paying..... Thank you Gene for clarifying the difference between the 1960s when there was a ceiling on rates banks could pay borrowers and today's situation....I agree that the current recovery is fading or will fade soon, and also that stagnant wages and family incomes are a more important cause than higher short term rates due to Fed tightening. But don't forget rising imports as a factor: so many foreign-made goods are cheaper (and sometimes better) than domestically-produced consumer goods. There is a process going on here -- the production of relative surplus value (cheapening the value content of the consumption basket) on a world scale -- which we shouldn't forget. This is linked to the revolution in retailing. In SC, we have a new Costco, where you can buy 100s of items at c. half the price you pay in other stores. Jim O'Connor
