I say they are incompetent and can't help Obama win.
If raised interest rates gas and commodities might go lower but they are some negative effects having a strong dollar like Jobs, exports.
-——Either the Fed wanted to destroy the US economy or they have no clue——
There is a third possibility. The goal is to devalue the US$ and other major world currencies to create inflation that will result in a devaluing of the debt. The problem is after all the debt or world wide, debts.
The cumulative deficits add to the total, that is they are accumulated as total debt. No deficit reduction or decrease in spending or any other such budget bill can decrease the debt. The process merely decreases and possibly end the growth of the debt.
The only way to reduce the debt is to pay it off. There are no funds with which to make the payments. Taxes cannot be raised to the level needed to raise the money required. The only way left is to devalue the debt, reduce the value of that which is owed. There is no way taxes on the world wide debt can be raised to a level adequate to pay it off. There is no worldwide discovery of gold or silver or other new hard asset to pay off the debt.
There is only one way ....... devalue the currency and inflate the debt away.
The rule of 72 is the key. That is compounded interest will double your investment in a ratio of rate to time of 72. For a compounded rate of 6%, your money will double in 72/6 or 12 years.
The rule works in reverse as well. The debt divided by say 8% inflation will be totally diluted in nine years. It will be halved and much more manageable in 4.5 years.
That is the process currently under way. The trick is to manage the rate to keep it as high as possible but tolerated buy the masses.