Can Donald Trump prevent the hike?

[clatoden99]

Isn't a rate hike in December the last thing Trump needs with regards to new debt for e.g. his infrastructure projects? Can he prevent the hike?

[bjl584]

No.
The President has no say concerning what the Fed does with interest rates. They are data dependent with their decisions.

[MooseBucks]

Is a rate hike a bad thing? They have been so low for so long I'd prefer to see it start getting raised.

[feh]

A 25 basis point increase is a done deal. Book it.

If fiscal stimulus happens next year, that only increases the rate of future raises.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It'd be nice if they had started raising it earlier in the year like they said last December.

[feh]

It'd be nice if they had started raising it earlier in the year like they said last December.

Except they never said that. It was their expectation that there would have been an increase or two by now, but they always said they'd be data dependent, and the data didn't support a hike.

[cornfieldj]

A rate hike isn't all bad. It's a sign of the Fed's confidence in the economy.

[sv2007]

Is a rate hike a bad thing? They have been so low for so long I'd prefer to see it start getting raised.

i think it would be a terrible thing for the US in general at this time. The whole world is wired together; if we hike while everybody is holding 0 or negative, then we've effectively lost the race to the bottom in the currency war (and I think there's a cold race going on right now).

Will it affect me personally? Probably not a whole lot in the short term as my industry may even benefit (in fact, I can vacation over seas cheaper). But in the long term (if all other currencies remain cheap), not even thinking about US export disadvantages, jobs will leave this country ... even high-end jobs... because an expensive usd naturally makes labor in rmb, yen, euro, whatever cheaper (of course, their goods too, so --> no US export, no US jobs --> not good for anybody here).

But then, that's kind of an extreme view. Like following a mathematical limit; in the real world, there's more than just currency/rates and even if that's the only things, governments do team up to set a decent, tolerable world order (ok, they at least try to).

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I thought that the jobs reports weren't bad? That the data did support earlier raising of rates? But Yellen was more conservative than many other chairs.

[feh]

I thought that the jobs reports weren't bad? That the data did support earlier raising of rates? But Yellen was more conservative than many other chairs.

The main thing that held them back over the last year was very low inflation.

[bigdaddybus]

So the total national debt is $19T quickly approaching 20T.

In 2015 the US spent $223B servicing the interest on the National Debt which is 6% of the federal budget. The congressional budget office estimates that by 2030 the US will be paying over $850B a year in interest on that debt or around 14-15% of the federal budget to service debt.


As an individual investor I crave to see interest rates rise. As an American, I just can't see the future looking bright with the country in so much debt.

Is there a realistic way out of this?

[corn18]

So the total national debt is $19T quickly approaching 20T.

In 2015 the US spent $223B servicing the interest on the National Debt which is 6% of the federal budget. The congressional budget office estimates that by 2030 the US will be paying over $850B a year in interest on that debt or around 14-15% of the federal budget to service debt.


As an individual investor I crave to see interest rates rise. As an American, I just can't see the future looking bright with the country in so much debt.

Is there a realistic way out of this?

Hyper inflation would reduce the real debt by a significant amount. But that has some rather undesirable impacts that would be worse than the debt burden.

[sv2007]

Hyper inflation would reduce the real debt by a significant amount. But that has some rather undesirable impacts that would be worse than the debt burden.

But what's the cause of the hyper inflation? Would our national debt even matter in such a scenario? It's like saying , ok , youv'e got a toothache, well, if you died, then you won't be in pain.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It seems both that congress and WH have been on board with increasing spending and no cuts. And in January it'll be more of the same $1 trillion infrastructure and tax cuts so how is it supposed to balance and get better if people are worried about US debt.