For a certain portion of the population the historically low interest rates which have been in evidence on both sides of the Atlantic since late in 2008 have been a beneficial thing. That demographic is of course those who’s mortgages were tied in to the base interest rates. Call them tracker mortgages, variable rate mortgages or adjustable rate mortgages, if you were prescient enough to be holding one on your property in 2008, you will now be paying almost no interest on the capital amount. If you took good mortgage advice, you will now have one of these mortgages.

Both the U.S. and U.K. governments realized early on in the financial crisis that those who had overstretched themselves in taking out expensive mortgages in the preceding years were going to be most at risk when inflation and joblessness took hold. Property values would drop, leaving owners with negative equity and making repayments which totaled more than their homes were worth.

So three years on and the interest rates remain very low. It’s great for those described above but for savers it’s been something of a disaster. If you had 10,000 pounds or dollars in a savings account it’s now worth less in real terms than it was three years ago. That’s because high inflation levels have seen prices rise at percentage levels far in excess of interest rates. Now in 2012 you can buy less with your money than you could in 2008.

For savers the outlook for at least the next 12 months is no better. Interest rates are not going to rise anytime soon. In 2008 the respective governments hoped the extra cash that was available to the correct mortgage holders would lead to an economic boost for the economy. What in fact happened on both sides of the Atlantic was that everyone saved the money or paid off debts, sensibly seeing the kind of bad financial and mortgage news which was looming on the horizon.

What both economies need is a round of job creation and increased consumer confidence. Until we’re all spending money again the situation for savers is not going to improve.