In the major developed countries, interest rates at the short end were also lower than normal for a long period after the mild 2001 recession in some of the G7 countries, as monetary policies sought to manage the particular circumstances each country faced. This was associated with an unusually stable period for macroeconomic conditions.
Should productivity fail to continue to accelerate and demand growth persist or strengthen, the economy could overheat. That would engender inflationary pressures and put the sustainability of this unprecedented period of remarkable growth in jeopardy. One indication that inflation risks were rising would be a tendency for labor markets to tighten further.