Historical Bank Prime Loan Rate Changes

I got this data from http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/PRIME.txt and dropped in into a Google Docs spreadsheet with a time-based chart. There are some nifty tools in gDocs for sure!

You always hear that rates are at an all time low... but it's not so extreme if you consider that rates could have been abnormally high in the 70's. We'll never know what normal is so long as the Feds keep peering into their crystal ball & messing with things!
We need an average fixed rate & to quit printing money... if we fixed the dollar back on gold & focussed all of our meddling on keeping accounting and investing behavior fair and honest in our country, then we'd have a stable economy that doesn't spin wildly due to politics & speculation.
Economies are supposed to have ups & downs... but keeping business practices straight-up is the only way government should involve itself.