REUTERS/Jim Young
Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 19, 2006.
In the nine years since the Federal Reserve's last rate hike, the US has gone through a housing-bubble burst, a financial crisis that nearly destroyed the global banking system, the worst recession since the Great Depression, and a slow but steady recovery marked by moderate, consistent growth.
During the darkest days of the crisis, the Fed dropped its benchmark interest rate to near zero in its emergency effort to bring liquidity to the financial markets and stimulate growth.
Now the Fed is considering a rate hike at their final 2015 meeting on December 15-16. The last time the Fed raised rates was in June 2006, and rates have been kept as close to zero as possible since December 2008.
Here's how 28 major financial and economic indicators have evolved in the era of zero-interest rates.