“She blithely assumes that everyone who could refinance their mortgages at current interest rates has done so,” Mr. Todd said. “She ignores effects of credit scoring and outrageous fees banks are charging for those refinancings. I invite anyone who will accompany me to visit the local branch of any bank in Cleveland and to inquire about what is required exactly to be able to refinance at the currently advertised rates.”

Ms. Raskin is a former commissioner for financial regulation in Maryland and has also spent time as a managing director at the Promontory Financial Group, a regulatory consulting firm in Washington. On Friday, when I asked for an on-the-record interview with her, a spokeswoman said she was not available.

In her remarks in Westport, however, Ms. Raskin played down the effects of low rates on investors. She said that less than 7 percent of household assets were held directly in certificates of deposit, savings bonds and the like. “Instead, the bulk of household wealth is held in stocks, retirement accounts, business equity and real estate,” she said. “For these other types of assets, rates of return depend primarily on the strength of the economy and how fast the economy is growing. Thus, these returns should be supported, over time, by the accommodative monetary policy that we have in place.”

But the 7 percent figure cited by Ms. Raskin comes from data collected between 1998 and 2007, before the crisis hit. With housing prices still declining, consumers’ home equity holdings have collapsed. Meanwhile, it’s a good guess that the percentage of household assets in safe-haven accounts has risen.

Considering the Fed’s plans to keep interest rates near zero through late 2014, it looks as if this policy will wind up being in place for six years. That’s a mighty long drought for savers. But in Ms. Raskin’s view, it’s a small price to pay for a sound economy.

The Fed has been following this plan for more than three years now. Yes, we are seeing some improvements here and there. But the transfer of wealth from savers’ pockets has been immense. And with the price of gasoline and other goods going up, the vise is tightening.