Abstract
This paper examines the causes behind the high ex post real interest rates experienced in the United States during the early 1980s. This paper shows that expected long-term inflation rates were very high during the period, resulting in ex ante long-term real interest rates that were much lower than the ex post rates. Ex ante real rates in the high-deficit early 1980s were not much higher than those experienced during 2000, a year that had a large budget surplus.