Is the neutral interest rate in the United States really as low as the Federal Reserve is now saying?

In late November 2018, the Federal Reserve ( Richard Clarida and J erome Powell) mentioned that the US Fed Funds rate (2 . 25%) could be just below the neutral interest rate. This would mean that the neutral interest rate (the interest rate that balances the goods and services market when inflation is equal to expected inflation and the unemployment rate is equal to the structural unemployment rate) is low , and also that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes should end quite soon . Can we believe that the neutra l interest rate in the United States is now 2 . 50 % or 2.75% when it was 5 % to 6% before the 2008 crisis? Nominal potential growth is currently around 4.25% per year versus around 6% prior to the crisis; this would lead to a neutral interest rate in the United States of at least 3.25%; So for the neutral interest rate to be so low now , there would have to have been an upward trend in the US household savings rate, a downward trend in investment, or a restrictive fiscal policy. While the savings rate has risen, corporate investment has increased and fiscal policy is very expansionary. We therefore cannot believe that the neutral interest rate is only 2.50% or 2.75%. The Federal Reserve is probably deliberately underestimating the neutral interest rate to avoid having to continue its rate hikes .