The causes of this common downward trend are less clear-cut, however. Many possible explanations have been proposed in the literature. Some are more plausible than others, and of course there could be more than one thing going on.
Graph 3  Real Neutral Interest Rates*  % 4  % 4  United States  Australia  3  3 United Kingdom  2  2  Canada Euro area  1  1 New Zealand  0 -1  1992  2007  2022  1992  2007  0  2022  -1  *  Last data point for United States, United Kingdom, euro area and Canada is June 2020.