a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
b_b  ·  484 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: December 21, 2022

I disagree with your assessment of this as a first world problem, though I largely agree with everything else.

    Multiply times the economy

For sure one of the biggest reasons why this isn't a first world problem is that debt is denominated in dollars, and the dollar (until like last week) had been rising dramatically along with interest rates since suddenly government bonds were sort of profitable, or at least less unprofitable than the had been. So all the poor people of the world who have had to borrow in dollars and pay in Rand or whatever are utterly fucked right now.

The interest rate rises have been fucking a lot of people, and just because you're comfortable in general doesn't mean you shouldn't be complaining about it. I have a hard time jibing with Powell's thinking. Didn't raise rates because Trump bullied him into not raising them, but now can't stop himself even when there's ample evidence that (1) you can't interest hike your way out of a supply problem, which is where most inflation has come from, and (2) the effect of rate hike has probably already been felt to the point that all you're doing now is beating a dead horse.

Weak leadership. Weak rationale.