Williams, the big boss, rarely speaks plainly today: he thinks that in the long run, this interest rate might only drop to around 3%. And that seemingly mysterious "neutral interest rate" (R-star) might actually be higher than we previously thought. Don't dream of zero interest rates anymore: the boss is pouring cold water on everyone. The era of easy money, with almost zero interest rates, can't be reversed in the short term. An interest rate of around 3% means money is still quite expensive. The threshold for "neutral" has risen: the so-called "neutral interest rate" is the point where the economy neither overheats nor cools down. Now the boss believes this point has moved upward, indicating that to keep inflation in check, the Federal Reserve needs to maintain a "cold" stance for the long term.