A Reminder the Most Powerful Person in the World Right Now is a Woman...Huff Post:

[Stuart G]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/janet-yellen-most-powerful-person_5672d3d6e4b0648fe3026341
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The cacophony over Wednesday’s interest rate hike proves once again that the world’s most powerful economist -- and arguably, its most powerful person, at least this week -- is Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen. The global economy turns on the words of this woman.

Markets everywhere are reacting to the first interest rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve in seven years. What exactly happens when the Fed says interest rates are going up? It's going to change how much it costs you to borrow from a bank, and how much it costs banks to borrow from each other. It will also change how much it costs countries to borrow from each other. In other words, the Fed's decision to raise interest rates has bearing on everything from the bank down the street -- which will be offering a slightly higher mortgage rate after today -- to the economies of Africa, Asia and Europe.

A rate hike is likely to strengthen the value of the dollar. Emerging-market economies -- that is, countries like China, Brazil and India that have undergone rapid economic development in recent years -- have been borrowing in dollars for a long time. As it gets more expensive to borrow, it’s possible that companies headquartered in such countries are going to get squeezed, putting pressure on their economies at home. All because of a decision made at Janet Yellen’s Fed meeting thousands of miles away.