What about in recent years? 7
6
5
4
3
2 FFR Target Range
1
0
-1
Actual FFR
Predicted Values
-2 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Source: San Francisco Fed
Since 2009, the Fed has been unable to lower interest rates the way it normally would have: monetary policy has not been able to supply the typical expansionary impetus for this stage of the business cycle. So income and consumption inequality are most likely higher than they would have been had the Fed been able to respond in an unconstrained fashion.