I am confident that the highly accommodative monetary policy of the decade of the 1970s contributed to this crisis. Another important effect of zero rates is that it redistributes wealth in this country from the saver to debtor by pushing interest rates on deposits and other types of assets below what they would otherwise be.
This requires savers and those on fixed incomes to subsidize borrowers. This may be necessary during a crisis in order to avoid even more dire outcomes, but the longer it continues, the more dramatic the redistribution of wealth. In addition, historically low rates affect the incentives of how the largest banks allocate assets.