ARE LOW INTEREST RATES HURTING OUR ECONOMY

Folks,

At a recent visit to my bank, as I was leaving I made an impromptu inquiry about bank CD rates just to see how low they had gone. I was greeted by a highly enthusiastic, if not rather aggressive investment counselor. Little did he know that I was a low-income customer who would never become one of his clients. What I learned from him was quite surprising. A 21 month bank CD has an annual 1.1 % interest rate. Therefore, a senior couple who has saved for their entire lives can expect to receive a paltry $11,000 pre-tax annual income from a million dollar bank CD. No wonder consumer spending by this demographic segment is so low and a drag on economic growth.
Moreover, the banker continued to discuss other more exotic and complex retirement investments that promised much higher rates of return that seemed to good to be true. After leaving, I wondered to myself how risk-averse seniors (or anybody for that matter). can get decent rates of return. They can't right now. Is it possible that low interest rate policies are holding down discretionary consumer spending and contributing to our waek economic growth and high unemployment?
I am not a macroeconomist so I have no idea how to solve this dilema. All we can do is hope that our policymakers get it right.
As always, GODSPEED to all.