90/YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!
Table 7.1 Nominal Interest rates, real Interest rates and Inflation
Prime Rate
Year Nominal Real US inflation
0/ 0/ 0/
/o /o /o
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
19947.9
5.7
5.2
8.0
10.8
7.9
6.8
6.8
9.1
12.7
15.3
18.9
14.9
10.8
12.0
9.9
8.3
8.2
9.3
10.9
10.0
8.5
6.3
6.0
7.7
2.0
1.4
1.9
1.8
-0.2
-1.3
1.1
0.3
1.4
1.4
1.8
8.6
8.7
7.6
7.7
6.4
6.4
4.5
5.2
6.1
4.6
4.3
3.3
3.0
5.1
5.9
4.3
3.3
6.2
11.0
9.2
5.7
6.5
7.7
11.3
13.5
10.3
6.7
3.2
4.3
3.5
1.9
3.7
4.1
4.8
5.4
4.2
3.0
3.0
2.6
Source: CEP AL in Dgarteche, 1996, p. 230.
(It should also be noted that real interest rates were higher
throughout the 1980s and 1990s than in the 1970s. This means
that new loans granted in the 1980s and 1990s to finance servicing
of 19 70s debts usually had higher real interest rates than those of the
loans they were meant to service.)