Bold moves, tepid gains: Have central banks met their limit?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's key central banks have worked themselves into contortions to try to rev up economic growth, raise inflation and coax consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more.

[...] consumers remain mostly hunkered down eight years after a financial crisis that jolted central banks to take radical steps in the first place.

The International Monetary Fund foresees sluggish growth in each economy this year: 2.2 percent in America, 0.3 percent in Japan and a collective 1.6 percent in the 19 countries that use the euro currency.

American consumers are saving more and charging less on credit cards than they did before the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

Sweat notes that many Georgia households are still recovering from the financial crisis, paying debts and rebuilding savings.

Japan's central bank imposed a fee on commercial bank deposits in January — a negative interest rate.

No luck.

Since January, bank lending in Japan has been growing more slowly than it typically did before the negative rates.

Lower rates have benefited America's top earners, who have managed to capitalize on low rates to buy houses or refinance mortgages and enjoy a stock market rally fueled by cheap money.

"The message is clear," Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer at Guggenheim Partners, said in a research note.