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Rates have remained in the single digits for all except 8 of the last 210 years
From A Call to ARMs by Barry Habib
"They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The chart here may be worth thousands of dollars. Over the past 200-years, interest rates on the US 10-year Treasury Note have, for the most part, remained fairly tame. The average has been close to 6%, but many fear the chance of runaway double-digit rates.
"Rates have remained in the single digits for all except 8 of the 210 years shown here. The rampant inflation of the late 1970's had to be reigned in. So rates were pushed higher during the 1980's. The result…low inflation and rates over the years leading to the present time. The lesson learned by the Fed was to use an ounce of prevention instead of a pound of cure. In other words, the Fed acts quickly now to hike rates a little so that inflation will remain in check, which helps keep rates from running significantly higher. The sky-high rates of the early 1980's will probably never be seen again. "