Will the Fed Keep Hiking Rates?

[DonViejo]

December 19, 2018 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

The Federal Reserve Board will announce whether it will continue to hike interest rates at 2:30 p.m.

Axios: “There’s never been a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision quite like this, with the central bank facing public criticism from the president and a whipsawing stock market.”

Financial Times: “Fed officials have signaled they will boost rates by a quarter point at the meeting, and holding fire would look skittish, according to analysts and strategists. It would send a markedly downbeat signal about the economic outlook; it might indicate the Fed is overly influenced by market turbulence; and it would trigger claims that the president is influencing policy.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2018/12/19/will-the-fed-keep-hiking-rates/

[el_bryanto]

1. I have to say i think the Financial Times makes some good points

With the yield curve having inverted recently, I am concerned, and I am not sure about raising rates, but at the same time the Fed raising rates and spooking investors might create equal or worse problems. So it's hard to say.

I do think though that Trump's style of calling out the fed probably pushes them closer to raising rates - not saying thats a deciding factor, as i don't think it is. Just that they don't like feeling like they are being pushed around.

Trumps management style is basically "I'm the big dog so fuck all you all" - and it doesn't work as well when you are dealing with other people who think of themselves as big dogs.

Bryant