Over the past seven years, there have been big changes in the demand for and supply of safe assets. These changes seem likely to be persistent, and they mean that the FOMC may need to keep real interest rates unusually low for years if it is to achieve its objectives of  5  See the March 2014 panel at the Board of Governors.
As we endeavor to better understand how changes in the level and composition of wealth affect economic behavior, new accounting systems may be required to supplement those that have long served us so well. Technology has facilitated the production of information at a far faster rate than at any time in the past.