By many measures interest rates are at a generation low. But all folks aren’t happy with this situation, and some say the government is purposefully holding interest rates down. N.C. State University Mike Walden takes a look at the issue.

 

“Interest rates are very low. They are low. And clearly if anyone has any reason to borrow money short- or long-term, this is an excellent time to do so.

 

“Now the question of whether they’re artificially low, I think, depends on a much more complicated analysis. The government, particularly the Federal Reserve, does have some control over short-term interest rates — that is, interest rates on loans or investments that are of a short duration. And clearly the Federal Reserve has pushed those interest rates down virtually almost to zero. So, you could argue that they’re artificially low.

 

“For longer-term interest rates, the Fed has less control, and yet those have also gone down. And I think you could argue that there are other reasons beyond government intervention as to why interest rates are low — one being we have low inflation. And inflation always affects the level of interest rates. And secondly we have relatively low demand for loans because of the relatively weak economy.