5  See Lowe P (2012), “Australia and the World”, Address to Commonwealth Bank Australasian Fixed Income Conference Dinner, Sydney, 30 October. 8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  working in the other direction. All else constant, this might be expected to lead to lower average lending rates than during the earlier period.
Of course, all else is not constant, including the amount of spare capacity in the economy, the nature of capital flows and the rate of productivity growth. But it is possible that normal lending rates will be somewhat lower for a period owing to the combination of global factors and the legacy of the credit boom.