Well, the short-term real returns are negative, and the long-term real returns will also be negative if the Fed ever raises interest rates in the next few decades. There is also good evidence that the official inflation rate is being artificially suppressed by the government, which means real returns are significantly lower across the board.
So if you're holding this up as a decent alternative to buying equities, I think it falls pretty flat.
I think there is no good evidence that the official inflation rate is being artificially suppressed by "the government".
Krugman: "As it happened, there was a very easy answer to the inflation truthers: quite aside from the absurdity of claiming a conspiracy at the BLS, we had independent estimates such as the Billion Prices Index that closely matched official data."
Well, the short-term real returns are negative, and the long-term real returns will also be negative if the Fed ever raises interest rates in the next few decades. There is also good evidence that the official inflation rate is being artificially suppressed by the government, which means real returns are significantly lower across the board.
So if you're holding this up as a decent alternative to buying equities, I think it falls pretty flat.