by the passage of ACA
![]()
I'm so certain you have no clue about what drives an economy and what doesn't. The 0% interest rates for 5 years have helped... Meanwhile, wages are flat and underemployment is as high as ever
Also, I believe the argument was the ACA was going to increase heal premiums... which is true. Oh by the way, my health insurance is going up another 23% next year.
I know I know... it's somehow my fault
The Obama economy is doing so well that Yellen recently discussed the possibility of a negative interest rate.
The Obama economy is doing so well that Yellen recently discussed the possibility of a negative interest rate.
we need to see where we are in January.
Hasn't the rhetoric been for the past 6 months to raise the federal rate? In fact, I would be stunned if it's not raised in December.
The economy is strong.
The fact that they haven't been raised yet is ridiculous
I wouldn't say ridiculous. Anytime the Fed whispered about raising the rates the economy would quiver. For something that is shown to only affect the short run economy, it makes more sense not to do things that would buck market confidence.
The economy wouldn't quiver... the stock market would because it has gotten drunk off of easy money for the past decade.
The stock market is its own beast, but it's foolish to think it doesn't affect the economy as a whole.
The economy is largely a function of everyone buying in. If investor confidence wanes, then stock prices drop. Joe Middleclass who is 60 sees his retirement fund shrink and decides maybe this year he shouldn't get a new car this year. You get the idea.
My point is, the fed rate is largely inconsequential in the long run, but hugely influential in the short. If you do things that rattle confidence in the short run, then perhaps it's best to wait until the economy can accept that change. The main reason the Fed keeps hinting at raising the fed rate is so it doesn't shock investors and cause them to react unexpectedly.
But isn't that suggesting that the economy is not strong if it can be so easily shaken by a preposterously small rate hike of 25bps?
And what about the jobs reports for the previous few months... there's a reason the fed kept delaying the rate hike...
There is a reason they delayed the hike and they specifically cited concerns with Europe and China's economies as the primary concern. Last month, Yellen stated that the economy was healthy enough that the concerns over external economies was diminished. Again, another intended foreshadowing to a December rate hike which has been the plan for the past six months.
And the jobs reports were fine. They hinted at an economy that was improving, albeit slowly. Nothing that suggested a struggling economy, in a general sense at least.
You can't, on one hand say the economy is good bc they MIGHT raise the rates a minuscule amount, then on the other hand suggest that it wasn't the economy's fault that they haven't raised them yet.
This is the worst economic recovery from a recession since WW2... and that's with the Fed babysitting and manufacturing every lever they could possibly pull.