R-star is a useful benchmark for the real interest rate. Sometimes, it refers to the steady-state equilibrium rate where savings equal investment (m), other times to the long-run value for the yield on safe government bonds (y), other times to the counterfactual return earned by inputs when the level of output is at potential (\rho), and some other times to the neutral monetary policy rate at which inflation is at its target value (i). This paper first documents the differing trends of these