They are lower than in recent previous cycles, even though the economy today is nothing like as weak as it has been on most of those occasions. Monetary policy doesn’t just work on the borrowers; the savers or investors matter too (and in fact there are more of them).
The low returns on offer on safe investments in Australia, and the ultra-low returns on such assets internationally, are certainly having an effect by prompting investors to “search for yield”. Not only are returns on financial instruments low, but yields on the existing stock of physical assets – houses, commercial property, infrastructure assets – are being bid down.