Low interest rates: An important political and economic policy choice
In OECD countries, the choice of low interest rates leads to very significant effects on income and wealth distribution and on the nature of the financing of the economy. The reason is that they lead to: An income transfer from lending economic agents (high-income and older households, banks and institutional investors) to borrowing economic agents (lower-income and younger households, companies, government); A wealth transfer to the benefit of owners of equities and, above all, real estate assets; As a result of the resulting weakening of banks, disintermediation of the financing of the economy, which is increasingly taking place in financial markets. These political and economic policy consequences of very low interest rates are not being studied closely enough; are they positive or negative, from the point of view of equity and efficiency?