The problem is that the feds have painted themselves into a corner with no escape. If they keep interest rates high, the cost of servicing the ballooning debt will crowd out almost all other spending. If they lower interest rates, inflation will rage again (unless they let the economy crash, which is politically untenable at the moment). One way or another, all of those trillions of dollars of unearned currency have to be pulled out of the system, and making borrowing easier again would be like fighting a forest fire by spraying it with gasoline.
I think where rates are now is the bare minimum of where they should be, even long term. They should really be even higher to put inflation back to the low levels where it belongs. And the benefits of higher rates (to responsible people who don’t live on credit) are more stable buying power and the ability to make a decent return on your money without having to gamble it in the stock market. Almost all of our financial problems trace directly to the debt-dependent economy we’ve fashioned, from the individual to the federal level. Thinking that the negative consequences of that foolishness are “transitory” and that we can now go right back to the policies that got us into this mess is idiotic.
People are going to have to reorient to a more traditional economic model in which people save their pennies, borrow very little, and delay gratification until they can afford something. If they can do that, they may be shocked at how wonderful it will be to not be in a constant race to get enough ROI on your money before ravenous inflation devours its buying power, and to be able to do so simply by depositing money in an interest-bearing account instead of betting it all on red in the market casino.
I like your post. Delaying gratification and taking a road less traveled. I think that was a book I once had to read.