Zero interest rates are a tax on savers, pure and simple. If you don’t think that has sucked $$ out of the economy, you’re kidding yourself.
Also, many of us have all the crap we need and then some. Products last longer now too. I remember needing a new TV every 2 years back in the 1970s (because the ones they made barely lasted that long). Now its 10 years or more.
I’ve got that beat. I bought my current TV on Halloween Day. 1992.