> That’s more than double the long term stock market return, and it’s (basically) risk free. You're comparing nominal and real numbers here. The nominal rate w

> That’s more than double the long term stock market return, and it’s (basically) risk free. You're comparing nominal and real numbers here. The nominal rate was more than double the long term _real_ stock market return, but the corresponding real rate was 4.5%, as the inflation rate was 13.5% in 1980. That's a more accurate and much less eye-popping number.