They were nominal rates, on a couple of short term bank deposit series, in late 1998. US T-Bill nominal rates went negative in the 1930s, according to Homer's "History of Interest Rates".
NB that the interesting thing was that nominal rates, ex ante, were negative. Real rates, ex post, have often been negative and remained so for long periods of time, as anyone who held T-Bonds in the 1970s, or for that matter Weimar debt, will tell you. dd -----Original Message----- From: Sabri Oncu [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 12 May 2002 01:24 To: PEN-L Subject: [PEN-L:25903] Re: RE: Re: P.S. Jim writes: > have _real_ interest rates really gone > negative? Deflation boosts real interest > rates. Well. I know that "interest rates" went negative very briefly in Japan a few years ago, as it was reported by a speaker at some seminar. It must be before 1999 since after that I stopped attending such seminars. Having never seen negative nominal interest rates in my life, my assumption was that it must have been the real interest rates. I will do some research to see whether they were nominal or real interest rates. Sabri ___________________________________________________ Email Disclaimer This communication is for the attention of the named recipient only and should not be passed on to any other person. Information relating to any company or security, is for information purposes only and should not be interpreted as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any security. The information on which this communication is based has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice. All e-mail messages, and associated attachments, are subject to interception and monitoring for lawful business purposes. ___________________________________________________
