A decrease in altitude corresponds with a negative rate of climb.
Most workers would then expect a zero or even negative real rate of return.
That provides a net negative rate of 0.75 percent.
An equivalent kind of inefficiency can also be caused by subsidies (that are actually taxes with negative rates).
If it did, Berkshire would have borrowed money at a negative rate for the intervening period.
It is difficult to imagine free-spending Americans, who now save at negative rates, doing the same.
In statistical terms, the more slices of bread one examines, the lower the "false negative" rate will become.
Next year Brazil will have negative rates of growth: -2 or -3 %.
Even under the best of conditions, there is always a small, but irreducible false negative rate.
A negative rate is extremely rare, for it means that banks charge customers interest on their deposits and pay them to borrow.