However, when declining affordability finally began to take its toll on the demand for homes and thus on house prices, borrowers could no longer rely on home-price appreciation to build equity; they were accordingly unable to refinance and found themselves locked into their subprime ARM contracts.
The excuse that “this time is different” undermines the commitment and the credibility of the information that the communication is seeking to provide. I would add that a committed and credible approach to such a systematic approach to policy is helpful and informative regardless of whether you are at the zero lower bound or not.