Lower interest rates may cause more economic pain

With interest rates already extremely low, a further decline will have a negative economic impact via increased market concentration and lower productivity growth

Will ECB interest rate move work? Pic: Getty

The real (inflation-adjusted)yield on ten-year US treasuries is currently zero, and has been extremely low for most of the past eight years. Outside of the United States, meanwhile, 40 per cent of investment-grade bonds have negative nominal yields. And most recently, the European Central Bank further reduced its deposit rate to -0.5 per cent as part ofa new package of economic stimulus measures for the eurozone.

Low interest rates have traditionally been viewed ...