Posted on 03/17/2017 9:51:15 AM PDT by xzins
In the past 10 years there have been only three Fed Funds rate increases. Two of those increases have occurred since President Trump won the election on November 8th, 2016.
No Fed Funds Rate increases took place between June 2006 and December 2015. CNBC reported in December 2015 that President Obama oversaw “seven years of the most accommodative monetary policy in U.S. history” (from the Fed). Finally, in December 2015 after the Fed announced its first increase in the Fed Funds rate during the Obama Presidency, it was reported that:
Given the economic outlook, and recognizing the time it takes for policy actions to affect future economic conditions, the committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to ¼ to ½ percent,” the FOMC’s post-meeting statement said. “The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative after this increase, thereby supporting further improvements in labor Premarket conditions and a return to 2 percent inflation.”
The only other Fed Funds Rate increases since 2016 were after President Trump was elected President. The Fed Funds Rate increased on December 14, 2016 and again a couple days ago on March 15th, 2017 by .25%.
The Fed Funds Rate greatly impacts the economy:
Lower interest rates usually spur the economy by making corporate and consumer borrowing easier. Higher interest rates are intended to slow down the economy by making borrowing harder.
So the question is whether the Fed is trying to negatively impact President Trump’s economic recovery from the abysmal Obama years (Obama was the only President where the GDP growth rate never broke 3%) or is the economy just so much better now that President Trump has taken office?
We suspect both.
President Obama’s policies were so horrible that the historically low Fed Funds Interest rate was needed to keep the economy alive. Also, President Trump’s policies of lower taxes, repealing and replacing Obamacare and slashing regulations all will lead to economic prosperity for the United States.
Morici has been no particular friend of Trump.
Peter George Morici, Jr. (born December 9, 1948)[1] is an American economist and Professor of International Business at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Peter Morici said a few days ago, and I heard him say it...I think it was on Varney...that Yellen IS doing this against Trump for political reasons.
Morici has been no particular friend of Trump.
Peter George Morici, Jr. (born December 9, 1948)[1] is an American economist and Professor of International Business at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Another reason to abolish the FED.
Be nice to kill the Fed and the UN during the same presidency.
At this rate, the economy will be six feet under by the end of the year.
And WHO appointed Yellen?
Yellen was nominated by President Obama to Chair the United States Federal Reserve.
I keep trying to understand the depth of hatred directed at Trump versus say, Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle, Ted Cruz — and this seems to be an absolutely insane reaction.
He knows something that terrifies the left wing.
Right after he was elected, I figured one of Trump’s worst enemies would be the Fed, which would try to sabotage him by messing with interest rates. But they let Obama skate for eight effing years.
Trump did say a few words about Yellen’s monetary policy during his campaign. I do believe she is doing it for political reasons and/or getting even.
A dream come true.
While such actions could be politically motivated, the evidience is that it’s employment based.
Under the law that created the Federal Reserve, the Fed’s number one goal is full employment, followed by low inflation and then moderate interest rates.
Under Obama the economy was so bad, and unemployment so high that the Fed needed to keep rates low. Under Trump, consumer optimism has been restored. Businesses are making the decision to produce in the U.S. because they know Trump will restore the import tariffs. The stock market is soaring, new jobs are at a 15 year high.
There is no need to think conspiracy when the evidence is that the Fed is doing what they should be doing. And that it is the success of the presidencies that are driving the Fed actions.
While such actions could be politically motivated, the evidience is that it’s employment based.
Under the law that created the Federal Reserve, the Fed’s number one goal is full employment, followed by low inflation and then moderate interest rates.
Under Obama the economy was so bad, and unemployment so high that the Fed needed to keep rates low. Under Trump, consumer optimism has been restored. Businesses are making the decision to produce in the U.S. because they know Trump will restore the import tariffs. The stock market is soaring, new jobs are at a 15 year high.
There is no need to think conspiracy when the evidence is that the Fed is doing what they should be doing. And that it is the success of the presidencies that are driving the Fed actions.
Just a coincidence!
There is no pattern of abuse here!
Sarcasm now off!
Sorry, this works FOR Trump, who in the campaign warned against a recession, and now the Fed is saying, “Hey, the economy is good. We’re gonna raise rates cuz it’s about to explode.”
Trump wins this.
That stop at Andrew Jackson’s gravesite...another signal
Ten months and two weeks to go—and she’ll do as much damage as she thinks she can get away with.
Yep.
Liberals define right and wrong by their political ideology, instead of a divine set of rules. And they see government as the source of morality and highest good, hence the reflexive response to prohibit via law what they don’t like.
It is lazy moralizing by liberals to say “My tribe is smart, good, rational, tolerant, educated so I become those things just by joining X tribe”. It lets you demonize and ignore any contrary view because they are stupid, evil, crazy.
This makes the head of the conservatives utterly stupid (see the regular articles painting Bush as having an IQ less than 50). Trump is obviously smart, so he’s alternatively smeared as dangerously insane and/or evil.
But...that’s not why Yellen is doing this. I heard Morici claim Yellen was politically motivated.
That said, it is possible to kill the economy with rate increases brought too fast, too often.
The forecast after the increase from one commentator was for a .9 GDP, downgraded from over 3% just 2 months ago.
There is no evidence of run-away inflation. 30 year mortgage rose to 4.2% on the announcement, and we both know, because of our age, that a 7% mortgage is an impediment to the contruction/housing industry in that monthly mortgages should be no more than 25% of gross income as a rule of thumb. It prices out the new middle class with avg income of 50,000 a year. 25% is 12,500 or the ability to spend no more than about 1100 a month on a mortgage. We’re talking about a $150,000 mortgage as the upper range of affordability.
Great, plus it keeps inflation down, or even reverses it a bit.
I hate inflation. Inflation is entropy.
The price of food nearly doubled during Obama.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.