That's not what that chart is saying. That's the coupon rate paid by a bond bought at that time (in the late 90s the bonds paid a real return of 3%, which when

That's not what that chart is saying. That's the coupon rate paid by a bond bought at that time (in the late 90s the bonds paid a real return of 3%, which when added to the current 7.12% inflation rate gives a nominal return of 10.12% for the next 6-months). The rate of those bonds was 3.5% just a month ago, and historically averages around 2%.