Money market funds and cash equivalents (short-term certificates of deposit, T-bills) will yield below 1.0 percent for several more years, thereby generating a negative real return.

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Certificates of deposit and short-term Treasury bills are plenty safe but do little more than keep up with inflation long term.

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They are typically short-term investments that banks market as a high-yield alternative to bank deposit rates, which are kept low by the government.

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Forcing banks back to the short-term debt markets for funding (or even to rely on their own deposit taking operations) is another baby step to getting the banks out of the emergency safety net.

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Many of us have short-term financial goals, like saving for a significant vacation in three years, or putting a deposit on a home in the next two years.

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However, when central banks pay interest on reserves or a deposit facility, this interest rate is rarely the one used to set the target for short-term private sector borrowing rates.

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