Countdown to Zero—The Final Chapters
The recent reduction in global growth, inflation, and long-term interest rates occurred faster than we expected. Therefore, our prior, already-below consensus long-term interest-rate forecast appears too high. As the countdown to zero across the developed markets progresses (more in real terms in the U.S. and more in nominal terms in core Europe and Japan, for example), this paper looks at the factors that have continued to push the interest-rate equilibrium lower and the market implications of an even lower-for-longer rate environment.